Germany’s €70 billion pension provider VBL is increasing its diversification, notably investing in overseas real estate outside Germany for the first time. It's also increasing its tilt to international equities over European stocks, enabled by an organisational and investment process overhaul.
Is private equity investment in the energy sector dead? Not according to Cambridge Associates. But the consultant argues that the game has changed and to be successful, investors should adopt a new commitment strategy; and while the industry faces secular challenges, managers can innovate to exploit disruption and generate attractive absolute returns.
A big contributor to the long-term top decile performance of the Washington State Investment Board has been its high allocation to private markets. But it is not just the high allocation that sets the fund apart from its peers, it’s also the nature of the relationships with its GPs. Amanda White speaks to retiring CIO Gary Bruebaker about the fund's secret sauce.
Sampension, the DKK325.6 billion labour-market Danish pension fund has found a rich seam investing in AAA-rated CLOs where it earns a pick-up from traditional fixed income in loans with low default rates. The head of credit Anders Tauber Lassen says the fund feels "quite comfortable taking this type of risk".
The $41 billion University of Texas Investment Management has been investing in China since 2007 and its CIO, Britt Harris says it “must be taken seriously”. Presenting at the endowment's board meeting, co-CIO of Bridgewater, Bob Prince, agreed, saying “China is too big to avoid”.
Just as some of the world’s largest pensions funds sell down their fixed income holdings in favour of equities and private assets, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has been buying more in 2019 as it seeks to rebalance the portfolio in the event of an economic downturn.
A full-blown trade war, and changes in monetary policy triggered by a loss of credibility in the Federal Reserve and other global policy institutions, could result in a return of the positive correlation between bonds and stocks, and investors need to be aware of the risk, warned Luis Viceira, George E. Bates Professor in the Finance Unit and Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education at Harvard Business School, at the Fiduciary Investors’ Symposium at Harvard University.
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