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.
The $A51.2 billion ($37.9 billion) Australian Future Fund has quintupled its allocation to debt in the past year, significantly upweighting its exposure to debt securities in the last quarter to 21.9 per cent of the fund.
Sovereign wealth funds are prioritising a review of their internal risk management frameworks and better communication with their stakeholders regarding expectations of financial markets, according to Patricia Pascuzzo, global head of national funds consulting at Mercer.
This report from the OECD steering committee on corporate governance attributes a great deal of the financial crisis to failures and weaknesses in corporate governance arrangements.
Ireland’s €15.5 billion (US$20.6 billion) sovereign wealth fund, the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF), has been highly exposed to the equity market malaise. Kristen Paech examines the fund’s investment strategy and the Government’s recent decision to use the NPRF to finance the recapitalisation of two of Ireland’s
beleaguered banks.