CalPERS has led the charge in the adoption of fundamental indexing, but the concept has a long way to go before it challenges the conventional cap-weighted strategy. Michael Bailey spoke to chairman of Research Affiliates, and one of the originators of fundamental indexing, Rob Arnott.
The strategic investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, Mubadala Development, has built its stake in joint-venture partner General Electric (GE), bringing it closer to reaching its stated aim of being a top 10 shareholder in the US conglomerate, while the Abu Dhabi Investment Company (ADIC) and UBS Global Asset Management (UBS GAM) reached a first close of $US250 million for an infrastructure fund targeting the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
PME, the €18.8 billion (US$25.6 billion) industry-wide pension fund for the mechanical and electrical engineering sector in the Netherlands, has seen its funding ratio fall 45 per cent over the last year. Kristen Paech talks to the fund about its recovery plan, including the decision not to rebalance equities, and the benefits of using a fiduciary manager.
Institutional investors in the US, including the largest pension fund in the country, CalPERS, have applauded the introduction of the Shareholder Bill of Rights which includes reform to allow long-term investors to nominate their own director candidates on the management proxy card.
In this month’s Financial Analysts Journal, Tyler Cowen professor of economics at George Mason University, Virginia makes sense of the current financial crisis by drawing on some of Fischer Black’s ideas.
The $27 billion Arizona State Retirement System has extended its asset allocation ranges and postponed the approval of new commitments to private market investments until the end of June, unless an overriding investment opportunity exception exists.
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