The £2.3 billion ($3.7 billion) Lothian Pension Fund, part of the Scottish Local Government Pension Scheme, has
overhauled its investment strategy, increasing its alternatives weighting to more than one third of the total fund, after poor performance in financial year 2008-09 wiped 17 per cent off the fund’s value.
An external review is being carried out on behalf of one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, the NOK2.47 trillion ($405 billion) Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global, to determine whether active management should continue, with opinions sought from international experts in the UK and US.
CalSTRS staff will present to the investment committee the first of three reports on the optimal balance between active versus passive in its global equity and fixed income portfolios, a process that will culminate in recommendations for any structural changes in February next year.
The Mercer Sentinel Group has completed a review of the New York Common Retirement Fund’s investment transactions approved by the State Comptroller over a two year period, concluding only one out of 112 transactions did not comply with written policies and procedures.
Kristen Paech talks to Michael Hanson-Lawson, CEO of East Capital Asia, about the new kid on the emerging markets block – Eastern Europe – and why pension funds should consider an allocation to the region, which has tripled nominal GDP over the past five years.
Preqin has canvassed public pension funds and other investors in the US to examine the specific effects of the SEC’s proposed rules relating to the introduction of the Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-5, on the private equity industry. The report includes key statistics on the use of placement agents, the importance of private equity and other alternative investment funds using third-party marketing to the portfolios of public pension plans, and the size of the placement industry.