Pensionomics,
a money-go-round

As debate rages in the US about the generous retirement benefits and high cost of state and local defined benefit (DB) schemes, new research sheds light on the role these funds play in stimulating the economy and creating jobs. Pensionomics 2012: Measuring the Economic Impact of DB Pension Expenditures looks at the effect of DB … Read more

Total cost shakedown at CalPERS

Up to 8.9 basis points will be slashed from the total cost of managing the CalPERS’ investment portfolio in the next three years, under a new investment resource strategy which could also see internal administration costs increase by $6.5 million next year, and internal staff accountable for internal versus external management allocations. The internal investment … Read more

ESG almost an afterthought

Only 26 of 4300 companies surveyed by Governance Metrics International (GMI) have a specific clause that measures executive compensation against a sustainability metric, and institutional investors play a pivotal role in transforming this behaviour. Kimberly Gladman, director of research and risk analytics at the governance research company GMI, says investors should set the expectations that … Read more

Research suggests global diversification works… eventually

An article written by AQR Capital Management colleagues, Cliff Asness, Roni Israelov, and John Liew, International Diversification Works (Eventually) was selected the best article in the prestigious Graham and Dodd Awards, a CFA Institute program honoring the top Financial Analysts Journal articles of 2011. It finds that despite the many critics of diversification, global portfolio … Read more

Broader engagement at UNPRI

The United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI) will expand its focus beyond the micro focus of ESG implementation for its signatories to include thought-leadership research and public and policy debate, writes Amanda White. James Gifford, executive director at UNPRI, said the new strategy came out of its board meeting last week in Australia and … Read more

African fund invests for returns and development

Returns should not be the sole driver of investment decisions as funds should consider the social, environmental and economic impact their capital can have, a senior official at Africa’s largest pension fund says. John Oliphant, head of actuarial and investments at South Africa’s $130-billion Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), says the fund considers high impact … Read more