http://www.top1000funds.com Investment Strategies for the World's largest Institutional Investors Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:55:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Texas Teachers Retirement System (TRS) continues to build innovative relationships with its managers, the latest of which has seen it take a $250-million equity stake in asset manager Bridgewater Associates LP. The decision to invest in Bridgewater comes as its strategic partners in private equity told the TRS board that they were confident the fund could meet its return objectives. George Roberts, co-founder of Kravis, Kohlbert Roberts (KKR), which manages $3 billion for the fund, told the TRS board that the fund was well positioned to meet its 8 [...]]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/news/2012/02/22/trs-told-innovative-partnerships-will-drive-returns/ EDHEC-Risk Institute has conducted research looking at an application of the improved estimators for higher order co-moment parameters as they apply to the optimisation of hedge fund portfolios. In the research paper published in the Winter 2012 issue of the Journal of Alternative Investments, entitled Optimal Hedge Fund Allocation with Improved Estimates for Coskewness and Cokurtosis Parameters, the authors find that use of these enhanced estimates generates a significant improvement for investors in hedge funds. It is only when improved estimators are used and the sample size is sufficiently large [...]]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/research/2012/02/22/enhanced-estimates-generate-improvement-in-hedge-funds/ Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund has to delicately balance the twin demands of being a long-term investor with providing capital to rebuild the shattered Irish economy. The National Pensions Reserve Fund mandate is being reviewed to allow for more investment in Irish infrastructure, venture capital and providing credit to small-to-medium-sized businesses. NPRF director Eugene O’Callaghan says the change in mandate will affect its investments domestically, as well as its equity allocation, and was open to discussing the fund’s investment approach in light of this. He would not be drawn on how [...]]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/profile/2012/02/22/liquidity-and-listed-infrastructure-key-for-ireland%e2%80%99s-nprf/ Research on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and investments has advanced in rigour, coverage and volume, but data quality, and the problems of reverse causality are still concerns for academics looking for a meaningful relationship between ESG factors and investment performance. ]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/analysis/2012/02/17/esg-seeks-meaningful-relationship-with-performance/ Emerging market equities in Asia and Latin America could be a bright spot in the lingering gloom hanging over global markets this year, according to BlackRock’s managing director of iShares Russ Koesterich.]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/analysis/2012/02/15/how-blackrock%e2%80%99s-russ-koesterich-sees-the-coming-year/ This paper investigates the extent to which market risk, residual risk, and tail risk explain the cross sectional dispersion in hedge fund returns. The paper introduces a comprehensive measure of systematic risk (SR) for individual hedge funds by breaking up total risk into systematic and fund specific or residual risk components.]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/research/2012/02/15/systematic-risk-and-the-cross-section-of-hedge-fund-returns/ There is too much trend following and too little intellectual irritation in pension management, according to Keith Ambachtsheer, principal of KPA Advisory Services.]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/insider/2012/02/15/critical-thinking-in-pension-design-and-management/ The tide may be turning for private equity investments, with 73 per cent of investors planning to make new private equity commitments in 2012, according to a global survey of 100 institutional investors by Preqin.]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/news/2012/02/15/preqin-survey-of-private-equity-investors/ Hedge fund investors should focus on a few exceptional managers and keep allocations to just 1 or 2 per cent of a diversified portfolio, according to the former head of JP Morgan’s hedge fund seeding operations, Simon Lack.]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/conversation/2012/02/15/outliers-outdo-averages-in-hedge-funds/ A study into the workings of the UK stock market has found that its liquidity is reduced by high-frequency trading, raising concerns that Europe’s biggest equity market is not as deep as once thought. TABB Group, a research and advisory company focused on capital markets, says that only 65 per cent of turnover in the UK market is actually meaningful and executable liquidity. The remaining 35 per cent consists of “noise” or reprints of already conducted trades. The study finds that cash trading is further diluted by a wide range [...]]]> http://www.top1000funds.com/news/2012/02/15/study-casts-doubt-on-liquidity-of-uk-market/