PKA, one of Denmark’s largest pension service providers, is exploring whether to increase its risk budget by 10 per cent to boost returns. Michael Flycht, deputy director of equities and liquid alternatives at PKA, outlines why the fund is achieving this objective via leverage rather than direct exposures, and where it's allocating towards in hedge funds and infrastructure.
Oregon State Treasury, which runs $80 billion worth of state investments including the $62-billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, is preparing the portfolio for a new dawn. John Skjervem, chief investment officer of the treasury’s investment division, sees the speed and extent of the recent sell-off in fixed income as “a shot across the bow”
Deficit and underfunding at the £6.7-billion ($10.4-billion) pension fund for employees of United Kingdom retailer Marks and Spencer had long weighed down one of the high street’s best known names. But a sustained, conservative investment strategy characterised by a “keen focus on risk management” and “an understanding of the scheme’s liabilities” has helped to turn
Sustainable investing may be an activity that increasing numbers of investors want to get involved in, but for Germany’s Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU) or federal environmental foundation, it has long been an integral part of its mission. That approach makes sense in at a foundation set up in the early 1990s to use the proceeds
Renowned academic Ashby Monk said the best way to lure talent to US public sector retirement funds unable to pay Wall Street salaries was to hire the green, the grey or the grounded. With a 30-year career spanning business, government and media, Theresa Whitmarsh, executive director of the $92.1-billion Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) laughs
What is the optimum size for an institutional investor? This is a question foremost in the mind of Jim Christensen, chief investment officer of TelstraSuper, the pension scheme of Australian telecommunications company Telstra. After four years of expansion, he believes he has maximised potential by gaining the optimum level of inhouse investment. Now running 20
The $46-billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) will launch PCIO, a private equity version of its successful external chief-investment-officer partnerships, and is looking for partners now. When the fund moved to a risk-based factor allocation a few years ago, it allocated mandates under its special opportunities bucket to five managers – PIMCO, GMO, Bridgewater, AQR
Top1000funds.com is the market leading news and analysis site for the world’s largest institutional investors. It focuses on leading the global investment industry to continuous improvement through case studies of best practice in governance and decision making, portfolio construction and efficient portfolio management, fees and costs, and sustainable investing.
The publication pushes the industry to question whether status quo processes and behaviours to tackle risks and opportunities will be sufficient in the future, and actively campaigns for diversity, sustainability, transparency, innovation and better alignment of fees in the investment industry.
Top1000funds.com is read by investment professionals in more than 40 countries.
Investor Profile