In the fall issue of the Rotman International Journal of Pension Management, Ed Waitzer, the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York University, Canada, argues the time has come for pension fund trustees and managers to lead rather than be dragged along. This article proposes a number of steps that can be taken to better align incentives and frame decision-making for longer-term perspectives.

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When Paul Woolley, academic-turned funds manager-turned academic, set up his research Centre in 2007, the two main associated universities, London School of Economics and University of Toulouse, didn’t like the name. But he insisted and now the Paul Woolley Centre for (the study of) Capital Market Dysfunctionality has a significant body of work in progress. GREG BRIGHT reports.

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CalSTRS has named three consultants in its shortlist to act as general consultant, including for the first time Meketa Investment Group, long-time consultant to Harvard Management Corporation and more commonly known as a specialist in infrastructure, under a new tiered approach to the use of consultants introduced by chief investment officer, Chris Ailman.

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Russell Investments’ newish president and chief executive, Andrew Doman, the first ‘outsider’ to take the top job, has notched up nine months at the firm. The ex-McKinsey & Co executive spoke to GREG BRIGHT about the evolution of Russell.

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Quantitative investing has taken a battering during the global financial crisis, with many big firms suffering lower-than-average performance for much of the past two years. But the stuff that gave quants a compelling story before  investor behavioural biases – is now helping them again.

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Asset consultants have recently started offering medium-term asset allocation advice, often as a separately priced service.

Watson Wyatt Worldwide calls it “dynamic strategic asset allocation”. Russell Investments calls it “enhanced asset allocation”. Whatever the term, the advice sits between tactical asset allocation at the short end and strategic asset allocation at the long.

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