The strategic investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, Mubadala Development, has built its stake in joint-venture partner General Electric (GE), bringing it closer to reaching its stated aim of being a top 10 shareholder in the US conglomerate, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (ADIC) and UBS Global Asset Management (UBS GAM) reached a first close of $US250 million for an infrastructure fund targeting the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
PME’s path to recovery
PME, the €18.8 billion (US$25.6 billion) industry-wide pension fund for the mechanical and electrical engineering sector in the Netherlands, has seen its funding ratio fall 45 per cent over the last year. Kristen Paech talks to the fund about its recovery plan, including the decision not to rebalance equities, and the benefits of using a fiduciary manager.
US plays catch-up, institutions applaud “say on pay” reforms
Institutional investors in the US, including the largest pension fund in the country, CalPERS, have applauded the introduction of the Shareholder Bill of Rights which includes reform to allow long-term investors to nominate their own director candidates on the management proxy card.
A Simple Theory of the Financial Crisis; or, Why Fischer Black Still Matters
In this month’s Financial Analysts Journal, Tyler Cowen professor of economics at George Mason University, Virginia makes sense of the current financial crisis by drawing on some of Fischer Black’s ideas.
Arizona expands allocation ranges, freezes private investments
The $27 billion Arizona State Retirement System has extended its asset allocation ranges and postponed the approval of new commitments to private market investments until the end of June, unless an overriding investment opportunity exception exists.
Bps speak: the real value in internal management
A 10 per cent increase in internal investment management results in a 4.2 basis points increase in net value added to a pension fund’s bottom line, according to analysis of the CEM Benchmarking database, which has data on more than 380 global pension funds from 1991 to 2007.
