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SSgA focuses on innovation not assets

For Scott Powers, president and chief executive of State Street Global Advisors, assets under management is not a measure of success – the manager is currently the world’s fourth largest with around $2.5 trillion. Instead it is the ability to provide value for clients in meeting their objectives – whether it be matching liabilities, creating […]
Amanda WhiteNovember 14, 2014
Uncategorised posts

Getting the commodities mix just right

While commodities are a controversial and problematic asset class to some investors, for others they are an ideal diversifier looking more attractive than ever. A mini-revival in commodity investing among US pension funds suggests the asset class may be enjoying a resurgence. The Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System, Municipal Retirement System of Michigan […]
Dan BillinghamJuly 10, 2013
Uncategorised posts

UniSuper defies accepted thinking

Mention any asset class to John Pearce, chief investment officer of Australian superannuation fund UniSuper, and he will doggedly set out the good and bad thinking around it. A common source of his ire is the sight of investors herding around a belief based on a lack of rigorous thinking. Good practice for him involves […]
David RowleyJune 12, 2013
Investor Profile

Outward bound from the Finnish

Finnish pension investor Ilmarinen is exploring whether to send a representative to South America as it intensifies its emerging market operations. Timo Ritakallio, who heads investment at the €29-billion ($39-billion) fund, says it is looking to access “more and more emerging market opportunities”. In January Ilmarinen sent a senior portfolio manager to run a “one-man […]
Dan BillinghamFebruary 27, 2013
Investor Profile

Danica maneuvers towards infrastructure

Danish pension provider Danica is upping the alternatives portion in its roughly $57-billion portfolio as it looks to boost returns within the country’s strict solvency framework. Alternatives already make up over 4 per cent of the $33-billion Traditional Fund, Danica’s largest and most conventional pension pool, double the proportion the asset class took at the […]
Dan BillinghamFebruary 22, 2013