Venture capital firms provided 5% less funding to start-ups during the second quarter of 2011 compared to 2010, Dow Jones VentureSource reported; a lack of institutional investors to fund the venture capital firms may be to blame.
A new report that warns of a “carbon bubble” argues that the world’s financial markets have vastly inflated the value of fossil fuel reserves because future regulation will ensure that most of it will remain in the ground.
As state and municipal governments face severe financial pressures and scarce levels of cash, perhaps more creative approaches are needed -- industry observers note that in-kind contributions may be one necessary, helpful option.
A survey from consultancy Towers Watson has shown that insurance companies are prepared to take more risks in investing, fueled by pressure from low interest rates.
The Massachusetts Laborers’ Pension and Annuity Funds has sued Rupert Murdoch and other News Corp directors over lack of oversight and a breach of fiduciary trust, adding to a growing list of investor lawsuits hitting News Corp in the midst of the phone hacking scandal.
The Court of Appeals of Maryland has ruled that Milliman, Maryland State Retirement and Pension System’s actuary from 1982 to 2006, is liable for damages of approximately $73 million for faulty actuarial valuations that left the state’s plans underfunded.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has made an agreement with Australian Airport owner MAp Airports in which the two parties will swap holdings in three different international airports.
As investors continue to allocate new capital to hedge funds despite volatile markets, new data from Hedge Fund Research -- which tracks asset flows and performance figures -- has shown that global hedge-fund assets rose to a record $2.04 trillion by the end of the second quarter.
The Reserve Bank of India has objected to a plan to create India’s first sovereign wealth fund by carving out billions from the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
New York City’s five pension plans are considering a move to consolidate their investments in private equity by unloading a $2 billion portfolio of buyout funds.
Korea Investment Corp. CEO Choi Chong-suk said the sovereign wealth fund must take advantage of favorable market conditions to increase strategic and alternative investments.
Six infrastructure funds totaling $2.8 billion closed during the second quarter, according to a Preqin study; indications suggest that an increasing number of funds will be closing during the end of 2011 and into 2012.
Doctors have claimed that councils in England are profiting from deaths through smoking by investing tens of millions of pounds of their pensions in tobacco firms.
