Institutional Investor (August 14)
“There are about 5,300 public pension funds in the U.S. today, overseeing some $4 trillion in assets. The 25 largest account for more than half the total. The rest of the market is highly fragmented, with thousands of public pension portfolios managed independently and locally. Fragmentation results in less efficient portfolios and higher operating costs…. There must be a better way.”
Tags: Assets, Costs, Efficient, Fragmented, Pension funds, Portfolios, Public, U.S.
MarketWatch (December 28)
“The market’s post-Christmas climb appeared to come from nowhere in holiday-thinned trading, leading some to point the finger at pension funds who need to tweak their portfolios before the end of every month and every quarter. Pension funds need periodic readjustment as outperformance or underperformance in one corner of the pension fund’s assets can put its allocation out-of-kilter with its target weighting.”
Tags: Allocation, Christmas, Climb, Market, Pension funds, Portfolios, Readjustment, Target weighting, Thin trading, Tweak
Bloomberg (December 1)
Not everyone is in line with the consensus view that the yen will weaken to 126 per dollar by the end of 2016. Among the most bullish, Morgan Stanley “expects Japan’s currency to strengthen to 115 against the greenback.” Factors behind this forecast include the historic weakness of the yen, the need for Japanese pension funds to repatriate money, improvement in Japan’s economy and a general overestimation of the BOJ’s commitment to monetary easing.
Tags: Bullish, Consensus view, Dollar, Economy, Japan, Monetary easing, Morgan Stanley, Pension funds, Yen
Financial Times (September 7)
Now nearing $500 billion a year, “stock buybacks are big and controversial.” Some claim buybacks are “killing the American economy…. Fine companies, the idea runs, sacrifice their future to satisfy cash-hungry hedge funds.” This is overblown. “Buybacks do not destroy the cash used. The cash goes to stockholders—often pension funds or mutual funds—that reinvest it, presumably in younger firms that are cash-starved and hungry to expand.”
Tags: Cash, Controversial, Economy, Future, Hedge funds, Mutual funds, Pension funds, Reinvest, Stock buybacks, Stockholders
Institutional Investor (September 21)
The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) “will sell its entire book of hedge funds, including 24 direct interests and another six hedge-fund–of-fund stakes.” This could signal a sea change as other pension funds reevaluate the effectiveness of hedge funds, which have mushroomed to $3 trillion. “Last year on average, hedge funds returned 9 percent, which was 23.4 percentage points less than public market returns.”
Tags: CalPERs, Effectiveness, Hedge funds, Market, Pension funds, Reevaluate, Return
Institutional Investor (June 19)
“Income potential and low interest rates are fueling pension fund interest in commercial real estate.” Fund managers struggling to find “investments that can match long-term liabilities and fight inflation” are finding “some measure of calm” in real estate.
Tags: Fund managers, Income, Inflation, Interest rates, Investments, Liabilities, Pension funds, Potential, Real estate
New York Times (August 14)
There is “a growing gloom for states and cities.” Struggling to balance budgets, city and state governments have cut 577,000 jobs since 2008. “Washington should have been trying to find a way to help states avoid the layoffs and cutbacks…. Instead, it seems to be doing everything possible to make the situation worse.” This includes “a budget deal that will probably lead to a significant reduction in federal aid; a bond downgrade that could eventually trickle down to the local and state level, making borrowing more expensive; and a stock market plunge that is bleeding state employee pension funds.”
Tags: Budgets, Cities, Local governments, Pension funds, States, U.S., Unemployment
Institutional Investor (May 15)
Emphasizing the growing importance of environmental, social and governance factors (ESG) to investors, two major pension funds announced sustainable investment initiatives. The $236 billion California State Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) pension plan will “fully integrate ESG factors in all investment decisions, and across all asset classes.” Meanwhile, the $152.9 billion California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) has pledged that all of its “external managers will include an analysis of how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues factor into their strategies.” CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes said, “No matter what you’re doing with us, there are ESG risks that we think will have a long-term impact on the portfolio, and we want to be sure that you’re articulating for us how you’re looking at them.”
Tags: CalPERs, CalSTRS, ESG, Pension funds, Sustainable investment
