Norway Ministry of Finance to Lower Active Risk

Presented by the country’s parliament, the proposal is part of a report on new regulations for risk and active management for Norway's Government Pension Fund.

(March 26, 2010) – The Norwegian Ministry of Finance recently said that while parts of the $450 billion Government Pension Fund will still be managed actively, the government was proposing to reduce the risk in its active management, Reuters reported.

The proposal is part of a report presented by the ministry to Stortinget, the country’s parliament, on new regulations for risk and active management. The ministry said it conducts a review of the fund’s active investment management once every four years.

In the report presented to parliament, the government proposed reducing the maximum expected tracking error to 1.0% from 1.5%. Additionally, the proposals aim to enhance alternative measures to reduce risk, such as limits to leverage. The Finance Ministry also recommended the tracking error limit become more flexible, so that during times of financial hardship, the fund wouldn’t be pressured to sell securities, Pensions & Investments reported.

The proposals are based on an evaluation process derived from expert advice from academic and professional parts of the international finance community, and advice from Norges Bank, the Central Bank.

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“In our opinion there still ought to be some leeway for the fund to deviate from its benchmark portfolio,” Finance Minister Sigbjoern Johnsen said in a statement, according to Reuters. “The costs involved in closely replicating the benchmark portfolio are unnecessarily high. Moreover, the fund’s characteristics create a potential for excess returns that should be exploited to some extent.”

Norway’s SWF, which invests oil and gas money in foreign shares and bonds, is Europe’s biggest equity investor and achieved its best return ever in 2009, generating more than $100 billion in gains to wipe out it’s worst return on record from the previous year.

In related news, the Government Pension Fund has expanded its ethical investment rules, putting heightened emphasis on active ownership of the fund’s investments. In January, the fund blocked 17 tobacco companies, aiming to make its SWF an archetype for socially responsible investing. The new guidelines allow for slightly broader assessment of a company’s situation before excluding that company on the basis of unethical behavior.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund, which holds 1% of the world’s equities, is the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund following that of the United Arab Emirates.



To contact the <em>aiCIO</em> editor of this story: Paula Vasan at <a href='mailto:pvasan@assetinternational.com'>pvasan@assetinternational.com</a>; 646-308-2742

CalPERS Under Scrutiny in Pension Investigation

The Department of Justice is scanning investment transactions of public pensions.

(March 26, 2010) – Justice Department investigators in Los Angeles have been looking into potential illegal investment transactions of public pension funds, including the $200 billion  California Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (CalPERS), according to the Wall Street Journal.

From New York to California, criminal scrutiny into pay-to-play probes – where investment decisions are made sacrificing best results in favor of profitable investment contracts – have become far-reaching in scope.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the millions of dollars in illegal payments were possibly made to influence decisions on where to invest public pension-fund money at CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension fund. However, the investments under scrutiny account for a small percentage of the fund’s total portfolio. A CalPERS spokeswoman told the newspaper that CalPERS has an ongoing internal investigation of its own while they also cooperate with outside investigative agencies examining the fund.

CalPERS faced criticism last year after reports that a placement firm headed by a former board member made more than $58 million for representing investment firms at the fund. Since then, CalPERS has hardened its stance on placement agents or pension-fund middlemen. It has sought details about placement agents hired by its investment partners, the investments they promoted and the fees they were paid. Additionally, the fund is backing legislation to regulate middlemen as lobbyists, which would cause the activities of placement agents to come under heightened scrutiny.

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In other regions, six people have pleaded guilty in New York following Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s pay-to-play investigation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been investigating pension fund scandals in both New York and California.



To contact the <em>aiCIO</em> editor of this story: Paula Vasan at <a href='mailto:pvasan@assetinternational.com'>pvasan@assetinternational.com</a>; 646-308-2742

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