Only $38 billion was raised in private equity worldwide in the third quarter of 2009, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2003, with the number of fund raisings abandoned more than tripling in a year, according to Preqin.
Principal at Mercer, Craig Rosenthal, was among the witnesses who gave testimony to the US House of Representatives Committee On Ways and Means, under the hearing “Defined Benefit Pension Plan Funding Levels and Investment Advice Rules” on October 1.
In another deal struck in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) financial sector, the $25 billion Khazanah Nasional Berhad of Malaysia has bought a 25 per cent stake in Dubai Islamic investment firm Fajr Capital for $150 million.
Harvard Management Company, with responsibility for managing the $26 billion Harvard endowment fund, has hired a number of senior investment staff and reorganised its internal
structure as it positions itself to bring more asset management in-house.
The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) has recovered almost half of last financial year’s investment loss in recent months thanks to the revival in global stock markets, after recording a 20 per cent fall in assets in the year ending March 31, 2009.
A survey of more than 85 senior level financial executives at US-based companies reveals few are taking steps to cut costs and improve governance but are reacting to the economic crisis by decreasing equities and eliminating defined contribution investment options. The report by Watson Wyatt shows that two thirds of companies have made changes, or are planning to make changes to their defined benefit asset allocations, while more than half have already made changes, or plan to make changes, to the investment lineups of their defined contribution plans.