The $68 billion New Jersey Division of Investment (NJDI) has made claims to be the best performing public pension fund in the US in fiscal year 2009. This is made all the more impressive considering the internal investment team, which manages a large majority of assets, numbers only 16. Amanda White looks behind the scenes at the asset allocation and investment moves that benefited the fund.
CalPERS has made some significant changes to its securities lending policy document in order to reduce risk and improve counterparty diversification in the portfolio, including a reduction in the maximum exposure to any counterparty, from 30 to 25 per cent of the total program. (more…)
While regulatory reforms can introduce improvements to complex investment products such as standardisation, Dr Arjuna Sittampalam, Research Associate with EDHEC-Risk Institute and Editor, Investment Management Review, argues an increased suppression of complexity could be unfortunate, particularly as pension funds begin to take to derivatives in a big way.
Asset consultant Towers Watson has debuted on Nasdaq and the NYSE with two quiet days trading in a very tight band around US$49, following Watson Wyatt’s $3.5 billion merger with rival Towers Perrin.
Asset consultants Russell Investments and State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) are both bullish on the Australian economy and equities, in particular, with Russell tipping industrials and a return of 10 per cent this year.
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, some investors are questioning the true diversification in their global equity portfolios and the appropriateness of standard benchmarks. GREG BRIGHT spoke with Adrian Banner, co-chief investment officer at INTECH Investment Management, about these and other issues.