Investors are watching conflict in the Middle East closely as inflationary pressures begin to build beneath the surface. One of the challenges for many investors is reduced exposure to the hedging benefits of fossil fuels in listed, and private markets.
The full board of administration and the executives of CalPERS are conducting a three-day offsite, entitled Defining Our Future Now, which includes a number of closed sessions regarding chief executive and chief investment officer performance and employment matters, in addition to open forums on a number of strategic investment decisions.
The alpha from active funds management was a massive -1.2 per cent before fees for US funds in 2008, a figure eight times below the average of 15 bps over 18 years, according to research by CEM Benchmarking.
Institutional investors should be looking to garner alpha from income-generating investments, rather than growth, as the “new normal” dictates that return expectations will be equal to about nominal GDP, according to managing director, Pimco, Paul McCulley.
Investment skill is rare, but it does exist, however investment professionals are neglecting their responsibility to improve and cultivate that skill by lacking the tools to self analyse and improve. Amanda White spoke to Rick Di Mascio, chief executive and founder of Inalytics, about the process of improvement.
The board of CalSTRS, the second biggest fund in the US, has three broad research initiatives for the investment team this year: rethinking active versus passive and the mix of internal and external management; commodities; and liability – driven investments. Chief investment officer, Chris Ailman, spoke to Amanda White.
With two more UK pension funds announcing arrangements to hedge their pensioner liabilities against improvements in longevity there is speculation these DIY swaps may replace bulk annuity buy-ins by pension funds.
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