It’s well-known that girls have always had a not-so-secret camaraderie with diamonds, now it seems the fund world is getting in on the benefits of that acquaintance. Diamonds are the icon of a harmonious bond, and the relationship between Harry Winston Diamond Corporation and Diamond Asset Advisors makes that symbol literal.
Implementing CalPERS new asset allocation
Setting a new asset allocation is one thing, implementing it is another thing altogether. CalPERS expects to have its new asset allocation implementation policies completed by the beginning of July, so head of asset allocation, Farouki Majeed, discusses the challenge.
Strategy should lead compensation: Ambachtsheer
A fund’s overall investment strategy should lead how senior staff are compensated, a recent survey into pension fund pay levels found. KPA Advisory Services recently asked 37 funds with combined assets of more than $2.2 trillion about how they structured their pay for senior staff and published the results in its latest monthly, The Ambachtsheer Letter.
Texas CIO dismisses calls for flexibility
A successful tactical bet by the investment team of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas fuelled a heated debate at the April investment committee meeting which concluded with chief investment officer, Britt Harris, dismissing the need for more flexibility in the fund’s policy statement.
Choose your goal posts … and then keep them there
Is the choice between a cap-weighted or fundamental index really going to result in more goals (or alpha), or is it just shifting the posts? It doesn’t really matter what you choose as your benchmark – it is exactly that, a benchmark. A point of reference. But if what you are deciding is the choice of an investment methodology or style, that is an entirely different question.
Security selection beats allocation in return stakes
Can large sophisticated investors beat the market? And possibly more insightfully, how do they beat the market? These questions are explored in a recent ICPM research paper – asset allocation and performance of pension funds. Amanda White spoke to one of the authors, Aleksandar Andonov from Maastricht University.
