The number of bond mandates awarded by institutional funds shot up by more than 50 per cent in 2009 as credit markets provided attractive investment opportunities, while the amount of passive allocations made by institutions increased fourfold in the past two years, according to Towers Watson.
Towers Watson’s Roger Urwin and Gordon Clark from the University of Oxford are finalising their fourth collaboration on global best practice for defined contribution plans. Amanda White spoke with Roger Urwin about the inefficiencies in plan design.
New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund made a big brave decision in the eye of the storm early last year and introduced a new dynamic asset allocation strategy. The strategy, driven by in-house analysis, involved several large bets on global markets. As Greg Bright reports, the decision seems to have paid off.
The C$69 billion ($66 billion) Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) will split its chief executive and chief investment officer roles, with Leo de Bever retaining the chief executive position, while a search is underway for a new CIO.
Norges Bank, the manager of the $456.4 billion (NOK 2,549 billion) Government Pension Fund Global, will integrate considerations of good corporate governance and environmental and social issues into its investment activities under an ambitious new requirement set out by the Ministry of Finance.
The A$66 billion ($58 billion) Australian sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, is doubling its allocation to “tangible assets” and will soon make its first allocation to the timberland sub-asset class.