A new regulatory environment in the Italian asset management industry could be a boon for international players as domestic firms may consider selling due to more stringent capital requirements, a study by RBC Dexia and Ernst & Young has found.
Conservatism will reign in the Netherlands in 2011, as a well-diversified, relatively liquid portfolio drives the asset allocation of APG Asset Management. But while caution rules, head of strategy, Ronald Wuijster is also well-aware of the need for an open mind around the measurement of risk. 
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Norway’s Finance Ministry is under fire for huge fees paid to external fund managers of the NOK3 trillion ($478 billion) Government Pension Fund, with the country’s auditor general criticising Norges Bank as “reprehensible” for paying out NOK500 million ($81 million) on a mandate of NOK3.3 billion ($534 million).
Mercer’s acquisition of US-based Hammond Associates marks the continued trend of a new consulting environment that raises the question of whether boutique firms can survive. Amanda White spoke to Mercer’s US investment consulting leader, Jeff Schutes, about why clients’ demand for deeper resources and knowledge is driving the consolidation, and why large firms are rejecting the risks of the public pension domain. 
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The Conference Board’s 2010 Institutional Investment Report: Trends in Asset Allocation and Portfolio Composition measures the asset growth and portfolio composition of institutional investors operating in the US. (more…)
Economists hate price and wages controls. They distort the natural forces of markets and usually result in pent-up demand and/or supply which will be unleashed at a later stage as well as a range of unexpected distortions. Investors, too, should hate them. (more…)