Chief investment officer of CalPERS, and chair of the Council of Institutional Investors, Joe Dear, has warned of a “reform facade” as memories of the crisis fade and resistance to reform instensifies, calling for a more comprehensive regulatory umbrella, and specifically for most over the counter derivatives to be traded on exchanges, in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington this week.

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In the fall issue of the Rotman International Journal of Pension Management, Ed Waitzer, the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at York University, Canada, argues the time has come for pension fund trustees and managers to lead rather than be dragged along. This article proposes a number of steps that can be taken to better align incentives and frame decision-making for longer-term perspectives.

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When Paul Woolley, academic-turned funds manager-turned academic, set up his research Centre in 2007, the two main associated universities, London School of Economics and University of Toulouse, didn’t like the name. But he insisted and now the Paul Woolley Centre for (the study of) Capital Market Dysfunctionality has a significant body of work in progress. GREG BRIGHT reports.

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CalSTRS has named three consultants in its shortlist to act as general consultant, including for the first time Meketa Investment Group, long-time consultant to Harvard Management Corporation and more commonly known as a specialist in infrastructure, under a new tiered approach to the use of consultants introduced by chief investment officer, Chris Ailman.

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Russell Investments’ newish president and chief executive, Andrew Doman, the first ‘outsider’ to take the top job, has notched up nine months at the firm. The ex-McKinsey & Co executive spoke to GREG BRIGHT about the evolution of Russell.

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Quantitative investing has taken a battering during the global financial crisis, with many big firms suffering lower-than-average performance for much of the past two years. But the stuff that gave quants a compelling story before  investor behavioural biases – is now helping them again.

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