CalPERS has officially adopted a placement agent policy, in light of recent pay-to-play allegations at other public funds, and introduced an investment policy for leverage, as its total fund value increased to $177.5 billion as at April 23, up from $169.4 billion at the end of March.
The majority of US corporate plan sponsors want to terminate their frozen pension plans quickly but don’t have the sufficient assets to do so, according to Cecil Hemingway, US Retirement Practice Leader with Aon Consulting. A new survey by Aon, of more than 70 US organisations with a cumulative total of frozen pension plan asset of more than $50 billion, found that 81 per cent are planning to change their investment strategy in the near future, with many looking to hedge significant risks (35 per cent), change investment to reflect the shorter investment horizon to termination (27 per cent) or move to a more liability-driven investment strategy (19 per cent).
The World Bank has set up a new asset management division, IFC Asset Management Company, and a new private equity fund, specifically designed to facilitate co-investment by sovereign wealth funds in developing countries.
UK pension funds are being encouraged to support the residential property market via an initiative which would see them invest in the private rented housing sector for the first time.
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US pension funds increased their manager search activity in 2008 on the back of large losses in equity markets, while funds in the UK, Europe and Australia ditched searches to concentrate on strategy issues.
The International Corporate Governance Council (ICGN) has appointed Carl Rosen, head of corporate governance at the Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2), as its new executive director replacing Anne Simpson who will join CalPERS as senior portfolio manager for corporate governance this month.