Controlling strategy inhouse at UK coal scheme

Until a few years ago, every aspect of the investment strategy at the UK’s £20-billion ($32-billion) coal industry pension scheme was outsourced. The main inhouse task at the pension fund was benefit payment but now, in a fresh approach spearheaded by straight-talking 38-year old New Zealander, Stefan Dunatov, the new chief investment officer of the … Read more

Swiss powerhouse: the Sulzer pension fund

Sulzer is a Swiss manufacturer with a proud past. From pioneering the diesel engine to making the specialist pumps that drive power production around the world, it has been around for 178 years. Perhaps leveraging off such a rich history, the company’s pension scheme is very much looking into the future thanks to solid returns … Read more

Over the industry? Change it

The pension and funds management industry is self-serving. There are too many players, there’s too much jargon, too much leakage and too much patting each other on the back. And that’s not just my opinion: the results of a 12-month research project, across 60 countries and more than 3000 investors concur. The research by State … Read more

Handy Sandy:
analysing the hurricane

When Hurricane Sandy descended on the east coast of the United States and headed inland, it forced the closure of all the nation’s financial markets. Christopher Finger and Oleg Ruben at MSCI thought this was important because, although there are plenty of precedents for natural disasters in terms of economic impact, the storm was singular … Read more

Bit of a bubble in the property pool

In a landmark project, the £11-billion ($17.5-billion) Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), a scheme for 10 local councils and hundreds of small regional employers including schools and charities, will invest in a series of residential housing projects with local authorities. Lauded as a completely new way of funding house building in the city, Manchester council … Read more

Inversion therapy:
the investor as benchmark

The pension and funds management industry needs to redefine performance to an absolute return measure, according to The Influential Investor: How Investor Behaviour is Redefining Performance, a paper that is the result of 12 months of research with more than 3000 investors and investment providers across 68 countries. The report, which sought to uncover the … Read more