Lower management fees and higher returns defined the latest selection process at the Swedish Fund Selection Agency in its latest awarding of active global equity mandates to 12 managers, its largest and most ambitious €20 billion ($23 billion) procurement so far.
Amanda White sat down for an hour-long fireside chat with David Veal, CIO of the $3 billion City of Austin Employees Retirement System. They discussed private equity, managing strategic relationships, internalisation and adopting Norwegian investment beliefs.
A knowledge exchange between the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and its manager, Parametric, has seen the fund become comfortable understanding the instruments involved to manage a chunk of its total levered allocation in-house.
In line with its strategy to reduce costs, while maintaining returns, one of the UK’s new mega funds, the £45 billion LGPS Central will reduce the number of managers it uses from 250 to 50.
Texas Teachers has further evolved its emerging manager program, launching EM 3.0 which includes a further $3 billion allocation to emerging manager partners. Head of the division Kirk Sims explains.
The $42 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund is dedicated to investing in emerging managers with a commitment of 22 per cent of its total portfolio. The relationship with minority and women-owned managers is mutually beneficial. Sarah Rundell talks to head of the IMRF emerging managers program and the co-chief investment officer of equities at one of its managers, Piedmont.
Progressive-minded asset owners could do well to unbundle their consulting dollars and fill the intellectual gap in the institutional marketplace around niche opportunities, and potential sources of alpha, by sourcing independent research ideas and due diligence.
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