All articles by Maria Teresa Cometto – Page 15
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Features
US fiduciary outsourcing gains ground
Downsizing, spin-offs, changes in management: many reasons can lead a company to decide to outsource the complete management of their pension plans. An increasing number of US companies are following this path, but it is difficult to assess the size of the “fiduciary outsourcing” business in the US, because the ...
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Features
Pensions reform derailed
The 11 September terrorist attack has changed the scenario for US pension reform, but it is not yet clear in which direction. Critics of social security privatisation say the stock market downturn shows how risky the proposal is. Supporters of the Bush administration’s original plan (in which private personal accounts ...
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Features
Public funds rally round the flag
Their efforts didn’t help the US Stock Exchange much, during the first week of resumed trading after the September 11 terrorist attack. But US pension funds did their best to try to stabilise the financial market at such a difficult moment. On September 14, for example, a group of US ...
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Features
Teachers' pet
The dual investment management strategy, a low-cost philosophy, devotion to customers’ needs: these are the three pillars of TIAA-CREF (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund), the premier pension system for people in education and research. As of June 2000 (according to the semiannual report), TIAA-CREF had $298.9bn (e320bn) ...
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Features
Californian colossus
How much can politics affect the investment decisions of a huge US pension fund in the public sector? A lot, judging by the latest example of the tensions between the board and the staff who manage Calpers, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest public pension fund. Following ...
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Features
OPERF's balancing act
Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) is one of the most aggressive and successful US public pension funds. Its performance speaks for itself: 20.6% annual return for the 12 months ending September 30, 2000; 16% annual return for the five years ending the same date. But its success is also ...
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Features
Calpers looks for investment talent
The giant Dutch scheme ABP is not the first large pension fund to encourage innovative asset management firms and invest in them. Another very well known fund, actually the largest in the world, the $170bn (e187bn) Calpers (California Public Employees’ Retirement System), took this decision in early 1999. The main ...
