Editor of the Financial Analysts Journal and chair of Ennis Knupp & Associates, Richard Ennis, believes contemporary asset allocation schemes are becoming unwieldy for many decision makers because of the proliferation and splintering of investment categories, and advocates an approach that relies more on empirical evidence than on assumptions or intuition.
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio has warned of a “material” increase in US recession risk compared to last year as the fund braces for a wider, “negatively skewed” distribution of outcomes in the next 12 months. It came as the mature plan, which is 81 per cent funded, is tilting to fixed income and new asset classes like liquid alternatives over equities.
Funds are operating in an extraordinary environment, with Scott Chan, chief investment officer of CalSTRS, saying he has never witnessed so many “large shifts stacked on top of the other” in his investment career. Amid the change, investors are increasingly shifting to a scenario and regime-based asset allocation.
As NZ Super nuts out growing pains in processes and technology, it has made some recent decisions to change its governance route including appointing two co-CIOs, Brad Dunstan and Will Goodwin, last year. In an interview, they discuss the co-delegation model, the evolution of TPA, and new alpha sources.
Emerging markets, Europe and Japan are all in focus for Australia’s sovereign wealth fund as it looks to ramp up active equities and diversify its exposures, as the fund grows wary of US markets amidst heightened political uncertainty.
OMERS has warned that investors need to temper their expectations regarding the performance of more recent private equity vintages, as the favourable environment of high valuation multiples and low interest rates that spurred over a decade of superior returns begins to fade, said APAC head Ashish Goyal in Singapore.
Singapore’s Temasek has unveiled its biggest organisational overhaul in more than a decade, splitting its investment portfolio into three entities to “sharpen” investment focus, boost accountability and align performance metrics. It came as the fund targets a 60/40 split between the “resilient” and “dynamic” assets to weatherproof its portfolio.
Reducing exposure to the risk in coal is particularly challenging for South Africa’s $122 billion Government Employees Pension Fund. ESG manager Belaina Negash explains the complexities due to the industry's tie with the economy and the fund's transition framework.
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