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Opinion

A broader view of risk

In the first of a series of contributed articles exclusively for conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com, global head of investment research at Mercer, Deb Clarke examines the decision making of long-horizon investors.
Deb ClarkeJanuary 20, 2016
Uncategorised posts

Shared fund objectives key to investor success

The practice of benchmarking the salaries of senior executives of institutional funds with reference to external financial services firms, instead of the shared objectives of the fund, is a major barrier to their success, according to Professor Gordon Clark of Oxford University and director of Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. Clark sees the […]
David RowleyDecember 2, 2015
Research

State pension funds tilt towards politically-connected stocks

It is well documented that local bias exists in US state pension fund holdings, but now an article in the Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) finds evidence not only of local bias, but bias towards politically-connected stocks.  Not only that, but the article finds that political bias is detrimental to fund performance. “Political bias is […]
Amanda WhiteSeptember 18, 2015
Oxford 2015

Strong governance begins with robust culture and teams in place

Keith Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus, Rotman International Centre for Pension Management argues that good governance begins with having “the right team in the room.” This means robust human resource teams, the ability to address issues around understaffing and raising the effectiveness of board members. “Board governance is still a work in progress today,” he argues, speaking […]
Sarah RundellApril 22, 2015
Research

Pension fund governance needs an overhaul, still

How much has pension fund governance changed in the past 16 years? Not much! A survey of pension fund governance by Keith Ambachtsheer and John McLaughlin, which asked respondents the same questions in 1997, 2005 and 2014 reveal that the same “sources of excellence shortfall” exist today as they did 16 years ago. Pension fund […]
Amanda WhiteFebruary 6, 2015
Governance

Invert the business model to focus on members: Ambachtsheer

There is a lot more work to do in raising the quality of governance of pension boards around the world, Keith Ambachtsheer told a conference of Australian superannuation fund trustees and staff last week. “We have to stop thinking about organisational needs and think about member needs. The business model must invert from serving organisational […]
David RowleyNovember 18, 2014
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