So Two Guys Walk Into a Subprime Conference in Vegas…
Book Review: Michael Lewis' latest -- and superb -- effort, "The Big Short." Review by Joe Flood.
Newsmakers
Hermes on the Lookout for Long-Term Institutional Investors
Hermes opens its three commodities funds.
PIMCO Exec Mohamed El-Erian Discusses Key Issues in 2010
El-Erian told reporters: "We will go through a bumpy journey to get to this new normal and we do not how long it will last."
CIOs at Florida and Cornell Universities Quit
Michael Smith at UF and James Walsh at Ivy
League Cornell cite personal reasons, pursuit of new challenges.
Harvard's Endowment Rebounds With Non-U.S. ETFs
International-oriented ETFs helped boost the value of the
university's US securities at the end of last year.
£7.8 Billion of Risk Transfer Deals Completed Last Year, More Coming in 2010
Companies are increasingly outsourcing risk by offloading defined
benefit pension scheme liabilities, research from consultants Hymans
Robertson shows.
Pension Funds Encourage Companies to Honor Voluntary UN Commitment
Signatories to the compact are committed to reporting
annually on company progress in implementing
environmental, labor, social and corporate governance goals.
Movers and Shakers: 8 Consultants Join Mercers’ Alternative Investment Group
Mercer has expanded coverage in North America, Europe and Australia.
San Diego Pension Shifts Its Private Equity Portfolio
The $7 billion San Diego
County Retirement Association is working on adjusting its strategy in
alternative investments.
BT Agrees to Cut Its £9bn Pension Deficit
BT nearly tripled Q3 profit, but its pension deficit is the
biggest ever recorded by a
UK private company.
Chairman Lou Jiwei Offers Glimpse Into China’s Sovereign Wealth Fund; Singapore’s Temasek to Create $4 Billion Investment Unit
CIC's Jiwei, a computer scientist-turned-economist, says the
SWF will let its own in-house portfolio managers lead investments in
developed markets. SWF Temasek will launch a new wholly owned
subsidiary.
ATP Seeks “All Weather Portfolio”; Separate Accounts Gain in Popularity; Pensions Tell Hedgies to Cut Fees
While Denmark's pension fund ATP will up its investment in hedge
funds, pension
funds are hoping to negotiate lower fees with reluctant fund managers
this year.
Pension Corp. to Finalize Capital Raising
The specialist insurer is close to completing 600 million pounds
($942 million) in
fundraising as it looks to profit from the growing desire of UK
companies to insure their pension liabilities.
Detroit's Big Three Automakers Face Growth in Unfunded Liabilities
As automakers' pension funds earn lower rates of
return, their funding needs escalate.
UK Fund Firm Hermes Extends Fees Clawback
The fund's decision is the first time such a
clawback system
has been proposed to all of Hermes’ funds.