Public pension governance and asset allocation

This paper from Matt Dobra and Bruce Lubich, of the Methodist University in North Carolina and the University of Maryland University College, respectively, analyses the relationship between governance, asset allocation, and risk among state and local government-operated pension systems in the United States of America. It is argued that governance influences investment decisions and risk profiles of public … Read more

Namibia’s challenge: development and depreciation

Namibia maybe one of the youngest countries in Africa but it has nurtured one of the continent’s biggest pension funds into life since gaining independence from South Africa in 1990. The Windhoek-based N$61-billion ($6.8-billion) Government Institutions Pension Fund, GIPF, accounts for over three quarters of Namibia’s entire pension assets and is the only defined benefit … Read more

Is the Great Rotation passing pension funds by?

The prospect of a seismic shift from bond to equity investments looks set to pass most of the world’s pension funds by, argue experts. The concept of a ‘Great Rotation’ rose to prominence following its use by Bank of America Merrill Lynch in October. It argued in a note that “the era of bond outperformance … Read more

CERN fund: the collision of investment ideas?

Its core business involves expanding the realm of science by beaming particles close to the speed of light and it invented the web – as we know it – as a nice little side project. You would perhaps then expect the CHF 3.6-billion ($3.9-billion) pension fund of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, CERN, to … Read more

APG’s Wuijster refines asset management

APG, which manages €314 billion ($480 billion), has always been innovative. Ronald Wuijster earned a reputation as somewhat of a pension rockstar when he introduced the idea of intellectual property rights as an asset class and bought the music rights to a number of high profile musicians from the contemporary to classical. That investment, which … Read more

NZ Super: contrarian Kiwis rewrite rules

No one who works at New Zealand Super has a business card that has an asset class attached to it. This simple representation speaks volumes to the investment approach taken by the fund. One could work for the strategy team or the investment analysis team, but the investment structure by which NZ Super invests, such … Read more