CalPERS has expanded the scope of services required by its primary pension consultant, including the provision of more strategic advice and better communication between board and staff, as part of an RFP for a general consultant to be released in December. The contract with Wilshire Associates, the fund’s consultant since 1983, is due to expire in June next year.
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The chief executive of the C$117 billion ($111 billion) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, David Denison, has urged the Canadian government to keep pace with the privatisation of assets in other jurisdictions such as the UK, Australia and to some extent the US, as it looks to increase beyond the combined $16.1 billion already invested in real estate and infrastructure.
The $32 billion Maryland State Retirement System is searching for advisers in real estate and private equity, as it moves toward its strategic asset allocation target that sits signficantly distant from its actual investments at the end of September, requiring a quadrupling of its private equity investments and new allocations to real return assets.
Just because the BlackRock/Barclays Global Investors merger will create a global funds management behemoth – with $3 trillion under management and 9,000 employees in 24 countries – does not mean alpha will come more cheaply. Amanda White spoke to vice chair of BlackRock, Robert Fairbairn, about what the merger means for products, clients and the industry at large, as part of an investigation into the role of the mega manager.
In this research report Watson Wyatt asserts the long-term outlook for emerging economies will impact positively on emerging market investments, but it warns that choice of asset class and implementation route are not obvious. The report suggests exposure to the macroeconomic dynamics of emerging markets will be most readily obtained in emerging market equities, debt and currencies, and discusses how emerging market economies will continue to grow strongly, due to a mix of rising productivity, economic and financial reforms, and favourable demographics. However, it states that institutional investors face significant complexity and potentially high fees when trying to build a portfolio that captures this long-term trend and should also recognise the governance implication of following such a strategy.
It’s time for pension funds to show some leadership on funds management fees, to demonstrate that they are at the top of the food chain – they have the check book. Roger Urwin, global head of investment content for Watson Wyatt Worldwide, believes pension funds have, to a large extent, been captive to the fee structures of their agents. He spoke with GREG BRIGHT.