Investor Profile
TfL Pension Fund: A bespoke benchmark in Bridgewater mandate strikes gold
Transport for London Pension Fund styled a bespoke benchmark to gold in its Pure Alpha mandate with Bridgewater. It has added hundreds of millions of pounds to the portfolio, says chief investment officer Padmesh Shukla. In a wide-ranging conversation, he also explains the rationale for reducing equity to just 18 per cent of the total fund and why emerging markets aren't offering the diversification or returns they used to.
Sort content by
Nest picks managers most able to adapt
More than 40 asset managers were shortlisted for a private credit mandate for the £8 billion UK DC plan, NEST. It chose three. Sarah Rundell looks at the process and structures, and what the fund looked for in a manager.
NZ Super reviews reference portfolio
The NZ$43 billion ($27 billion) New Zealand Super Fund is undergoing its five-yearly review of its reference portfolio, an innovative and unique asset allocation reference point that allows the fund to benchmark the performance of its actual portfolio and any value added through active management.
Bridgewater and UTIMCO talk China
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”.
OTPP bucks trend, keeps buying bonds
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.
Wisconsin’s data solution
David Villa, CIO of the $110 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board is worried about the outlook for returns. As a result he’s significantly underweight sovereign bonds in favour of cash. But he’s also positioning the organisation to do better analytics for more complicated portfolios, another result of a low return environment. The fund is working on at least five data and technology projects and has hired a chief technology and operations officer.
AustralianSuper eyes India
Australia’s largest industry super fund has looked to India to boost returns, as it ramps up its allocation in offshore private markets to further diversify its portfolio.



Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Login