New York City Comptroller John Liu has rallied NYC pension funds in a call for high profile firms JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to beef up clawback provisions for senior executives. (more…)
IMQubator, the emerging manager fund of funds backed by APG, will establish an international capital introduction network, as part of a plan to attract institutional investors in addition to the Dutch giant.
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It seems all predictions for 2012 are predicated on the assumption that the mess in Europe doesn’t hit the global economic fan. But as money managers gaze into their crystal balls at what 2012 might hold, emerging markets, particularly Asia, seem a bright spot amid the gloom. (more…)
After a tentative agreement was achieved by global leaders in Durban in December more than 500 global investors will meet at the United Nations next week to discuss the investment needed to address climate change.
The chief executive officers of CalPERS and CalSTRS, as well as the comptrollers of New York’s state and local public pension funds, will be among those providing their views to the biannual summit on climate risk.
The Investor Summit on Climate Risk and Energy Solutions is run through Ceres and its investor network on climate risk. The network has more than 100 members representing a collective $9.5 trillion in assets under management.
Ceres, an organisation bringing together non-government organisations, corporations and global investors to tackle climate change has described the December talks in Durban, South Africa as “inconclusive”.
Citing new UN research showing a strong linkage between climate change and extreme weather events that will have “far-reaching business ripples”, Ceres says that the summit will provide investors with a chance to share what action they are undertaking.
The summit will also discuss emerging trends aimed at encouraging the large-scale investment needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the severe impacts predicted from climate change.
The summit to be held on January 12 in the UN’s headquarters in New York also includes representatives from some of the world’s biggest asset managers.
Executives at Deutsche Asset Management, Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs & Co, including president and senior investment strategist, Abby Joseph Cohen, are among those presenting at the summit.
Prominent investors include Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the $146 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, who will address the role of institutional investors in addressing climate risk.
Anne Stausboll, the chief executive of CalPERS will moderate a discussion on sustainable investing in today’s global economy. CalSTERS’ chief executive, Jack Ehnes, will participate in a discussion looking at what the future may hold for climate risk investment.
Treasurers from the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut will also look at discussions ranging from clean energy investment to energy efficiency.
New York City Comptroller, John Liu, will discuss the potential for climate change investment to create jobs.
The UN Foundation and the UN Office for Partnerships are sponsors of the summit. Prominent UN officials including UN assistant Secretary-General, Robert C. Orr, and Kandeh Yumkella, the Director-General of the UN Industrial Development will address the summit.
Yumkella will participate in a discussion with Andrew Steer, the World Bank’s special envoy on Climate Change, on growing climate change investment opportunities in emerging market economies.
The formal approval of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was a critical outcome of the UN climate change conference in Durban, according to Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors, but the lack of funding for the GCF remains a concern. (more…)
Investment controls and systems remain the highest risk at CalPERS according to its year-end enterprise risk dashboard.
While an investment office “target operating model” has been developed it has not been fully implemented, which means the risk rating remains at the highest level, with a report stating weak controls, systems and data could lead to inappropriate transactions, financial loss and reputational harm.
According to the report there are a number of planned mitigation strategies for this year that aim to reduce this risk. These include implementing a new equity portfolio construction system and global equity investment book of record; establish an investment office data management function; and the completion of the financial reporting reengineering project.
In September 2010 CalPERS created the Office of Enterprise Risk Management, which has purpose of leading the organisation in the identification, assessment and monitoring of enterprise risks, and for developing a risk-intelligent culture among staff and management.
In its risk assessment plan it has set out the planned risk assessment activities for the rest of the 2011/2012 financial year.
On the investment side these include a Blackrock/Charles River user review, and rules review, as well as a securities lending review.