Last year large institutional investors in the US, including the State of Massachusetts Pension Fund and CalPERS, dedicated money to senior bank loans. Amanda White examines the outlook for the sector and talks to group head of ING’s senior loan group, Jeff Bakalar, about whether institutional allocations to the sector have been tactical or strategic.

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The board of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will not award the individual component of executive’s short term incentive plans, due to current economic circumstances, however the chief executive and the three key investment professionals still earned a combined C$8.6 million in total compensation in the fiscal year to March.

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The C$105 billion Canada Public Pension Investment Board (CPPIB) has adjusted the investment allocations in its reference portfolio, including an increased foreign exposure, and made significant risk management enhancements, as a response to the volatile economic environment and its long-term asset-liability matching.

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This article by Kees Koedijk and Alfred Slager , published in the Rotman International Journal of Pension Management, presents the results of a global study of investment beliefs, and highlights the differences in how pension funds and commercial asset managers view capital markets.

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The flow of capital absorbed by Australia’s superannuation industry is something that irritates academics Ron Bird and Jack Gray, who just received research funding from the ICPM, particularly since super fund members are forced by law to put their money into the hands of their fiduciary ‘agents’, writes Simon Mumme.

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The $US 324 billion Government Pension Fund – Global (NBIM) of Norway pushed its allocation to equities beyond 50 per cent in the course of Q1 2009 at the expense of its fixed income portfolio, maintaining a strategic bent towards a higher exposure to growth assets.

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