Asset Allocation – Page 116
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FeaturesThe advantages of conservatism
Portuguese pension fund asset allocation has been criticised in the past for a traditional approach that lost out on potential gains. But George Coats finds that at a time of market crisis it may limit losses
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Special Report
A matter of survival
A deeper understanding of environmental, social and governance issues will allow you to make better-informed investment decisions
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FeaturesHarness the winds of change
Ben Funk, Tzvety Petrova, and Dominik Nagly of Liongate Capital argue that recent unprecedented volatility can create opportunities for carefully selected hedge fund strategies
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Features
Doing it whose way?
Frank Sinatra’s career was famously long-lived. It was also notable for a series of farewell concerts, at one of which the singer collapsed on stage. He was 78 at the time and died at 82. For DB pension funds, seeing members over 80 at annual pensioner meetings is not unusual, ...
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FeaturesThe yoke of uncertainty
In ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, William Shakepseare describes a February face as “full of frost, of storm and cloudiness”. The turning of the year has certainly done little to lift the mood of institutional investors. After briefly warming to risky assets at the end of 2008, 2009 has begun with ...
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Features
Two paths to passive tactics
There are more and more ways to access passive investment strategies – in terms of fund types, approaches to benchmark replication and the range of providers. Here, Liam Kennedy looks at sampling and synthetic approaches to indexation
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Special ReportSupervision of Portugal’s market
New regulations came into force last year. Gert Verheij assesses their implementation at a challenging time for pension funds and their sponsors
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FeaturesHedging in practice
The focus of liability driven strategies has so far largely been on interest rate and inflation risk. Solutions to longevity risk have been slow both in creation and take-up, finds Nina Röhrbein
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FeaturesNow for the hard work
The credit crunch has finally exploded in the face of European pension funds. Georg Inderst looks at the problems this has created as investment managers make asset allocation decisions and offers potential solutions
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FeaturesHold or fold?
Small and mid caps have taken a beating in the market downturn. Joseph Mariathasan assesses their outlook
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FeaturesMinus five is the new zero
Absolute return strategies do not always produce absolute returns, and alternative investments are not always decorrelated from the mainstream. Long/short investors do not always have skill in shorting, let alone the long. Convertible arbitrageurs are not always able to arbitrage their convertibles. Leveraged strategies have seen their leverage dry up ...
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Features
Not an exact science
To begin at the beginning with actuarial science: it ain’t perfect. Most pension managers have probably already twigged this after years of data revisions by their appointed scheme actuary. In spite of any appearances to the contrary, actuaries are human, not divine. Yet they qualify and are consequently paid to ...
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FeaturesEdgy on equities but eager for infrastructure
In many areas Norway has carved out its own distinct path. Kjetil Houg, finance director at Oslo Pensjonsforsikring, tells Nina Röhrbein how this has helped the country’s largest local authority pension scheme to navigate the market crisis
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Special Report
Diary of an Investor: Problems, problems, problems
Problems, Problems, Problems, and this time from the one area that we thought had been relatively immune from the financial chaos, namely custody. Let me be clear; our relationship with our custodian has been good. Their ability to provide standardised reporting and ancillary services is fine, and the matter-of-fact and ...
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Features
Get down to the detail
Transaction proposals for collateralised finance trades are still not acknowledging the appropriate risks, says Jeroen Wilbrink. Pension funds should only make their balance sheet available at the right price
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FeaturesPension funds see crisis role
Europe’s mighty central banks are being stretched to their limits, not only in the range of problems they need to fix, but also in their financial firepower. In some countries, pension funds have stepped in as the new investors of last resort, transforming themselves almost overnight into Pension Fund plc ...
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FeaturesRediscover common sense virtues
In the second in a series of articles on a new report, Amin Rajan argues that asset allocation is more about mindsets than models, as pension funds move from calendar time to real time
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