As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ponders various alternative rules on an appropriate limit on short selling in distressed markets, a survey of members by the CFA Institute Centre for Financial Market Integrity shows the least preferred method is a ban on short selling in a particular security for the remainder of the day when its price falls by 10 per cent.
ESG progress for large funds: USS
The £23 billion ($37.7 billion) Universities Superannuation Scheme is the UK’s second largest pension fund and a signatory to the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment. Kristen Paech talks to the fund’s co-head of responsible investment, David Russell, about the role institutional investors are playing in effecting environmental, social and governance change.
Target date funds go to Washington
Last week, Professor of Finance at Griffith Business School at Griffith University, Michael E. Drew*, was the only academic invited to present at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Labor Joint-Hearing on target date funds. He writes exclusively for conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com on his submission, which questions the conventional use of age-based approaches to asset allocation, and the implications for pension funds.
London Pensions Fund Authority’s opportunistic tilt
The £3.6 billion (US$5.9 billion) London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) chief executive, Mike Taylor, talks to Kristen Paech about the fund’s decision to suspend securities lending after the Lehman’s collapse, and some structural changes that have made it possible to invest on a more opportunistic basis.
New York fund fulfills green promise with $200m Generation mandate
The $122 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund has allocated $200 million to Generation Investment Management, partly fulfilling the commitment made by New York State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, in April last year to increase commitments to environmentally focused strategies across the whole portfolio by $500 million in three years.
Why bonds are not the answer: John Lewis
Like most defined benefit pension funds, the £2 billion (US$3.27 billion) John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust is struggling to cope with the funding pressures resulting from the financial crisis. But as pension investment manager Andrew Chapman tells Kristen Paech,
bonds are not the solution.
