CalPERS has conducted its first-ever annual review of the inflation-linked asset class (ILAC) program and has made a number of changes including moving the responsibility of the asset class to real estate. Amanda White looks at the fund’s plans for ILAC in the coming year.
The managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al Nehayan, died on March 26 in a glider accident in Morocco. His legacy to the investment management industry is a commitment to improved transparency, disclosure and cooperation.
China is the world’s biggest new frontier since wild-west America in the mid 19th century. For instance, it controls four of the top 10 sovereign wealth funds by size, as just one of many examples of its nascent power. And China is changing, becoming much more of a global corporate citizen and less of the world’s factory. Or at least it’s trying to. Exemplifying this change is the evolution of one of China’s sovereign funds, the National Social Security Fund, which turns 10 years old this year. Greg Bright puts the fund into perspective.
The Australian and New Zealand timberland markets are opening up in a big way. And because the investment environment for the assets in these countries is much less efficient than in the US, there are opportunities to buy good assets cheaply. But Eugene Snyman of Cambridge Associates says managers with a local presence will drive the best deals. Simon Mumme reports.
The Ethical Council, a collaboration between the Swedish funds AP1-4, concluded dialogues with four companies in 2009 after achieving its ethical objectives, but unsuccessful dialogue with Elbit Systems has resulted in the funds excluding the company from their portfolios effective immediately.
CalPERS plans to send a written request to up to 58 of its largest domestic company investments to adopt a majority voting standard in uncontested director elections, following an increase in the number of shareowner proposals that staff have been delegated to submit at CalPERS portfolio companies.