Maverick Series video: Gonski part I

In the first of a new series of video interviews featuring thought leaders in global institutional investment, chair of the $80 billion Australian Future Fund, David Gonski, outlines his views on governance.

Finnish fund diversifies out of Europe

Over the past five years, Finland’s 5.4 million people have watched with alarm as the eurozone they joined as founder members has descended into financial turmoil. So it is no surprise that Keva, which manages €34.4 billion ($47.1 billion) on behalf of Finland’s municipalities, as well as administering state and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland … Read more

Vita Sammelstiftung puts bond holdings under microscope

Samuel Lisse, chief executive of Switzerland’s Vita Sammelstiftung (Vita), is currently in the process of hiring a new head of investment. The new appointee will have plenty resting in the in-tray, it appears, as she starts to assist the investment committee that governs the strategy of the 8.5-billion-Swiss-franc ($9.1-billion) joint foundation. That is not because … Read more

ATP reunites alpha and beta after 6 years

Alpha and beta rely to a large extent on exposures to systematic risk factors, so goes the “2013 thinking” of ATP in reversing the decision to separate alpha and beta in its investment portfolio six years ago. ATP has separate hedging and investment portfolios, with the hedging portfolio significantly larger at around DKK 670 billion … Read more

Environment Agency fund: a natural progression

It’s hardly surprising that a pension fund for employees working for an organisation charged with reducing climate change and its consequences invests according to strict green criteria. Yet the investment strategy of the United Kingdom’s £2.1-billion ($3.29 billion) Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF) definitely has the capacity to surprise. The EAPF posted a total return … Read more

State Street’s Probyn into 2013

The current equity rally is not predicated on a shift in economic performance, according to chief economist at State Street, Chris Probyn, who says it would be reasonable to say the market may “pause for thought”. Probyn says the move from fixed income to equities has been fostered by some of the “economic areas for … Read more