South Korea SWF Aims to Boost Alternatives Allocation
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.
Asset Allocation
Six Infrastructure Funds Close as Positive Investment Outlook Continues, Study Says
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.
NHS Urges Local Authorities to Divest From Tobacco Funds
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.
Report: Greater Interest Among Private Equity Funds in Latin America
Research released by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) reveals that the rapidly changing regulatory environment within Latin America is enabling greater institutional investment in private equity.
Survey: Institutional Managers Have Higher Aversion to Risk
Amid negative economic news, institutional investment managers surveyed by Northern Trust solidified a trend toward risk aversion in the second quarter of 2011.
UK Pension Plans Express Increasing Concern Over Longevity
A growing number of UK pension plans have expressed concern over the increasing longevity of plan members, according to MetLife’s Pension Risk Behaviour Index Study.
Japanese Pension Plans May Triple Allocation to Alternatives, Credit Suisse Says
Japanese corporate pension plans will likely triple their allocations to alternative assets as they seek to boost returns in anticipation of the retirement of their rapidly aging beneficiaries, Credit Suisse has said.
PIMCO’s Bill Gross Reconsiders Bearish Position on U.S. Treasuries
Pacific Investment Management Co. raised the allocation of U.S. Treasuries in its $242.7 billion Total Return Fund from 5% to 8%, indicating a softening of Bill Gross’ aggressively short position on Treasuries.
Report: US ETF Assets Poised to Double by 2015
A new report by BNY Mellon and consultant Strategic Insight -- which analyzes the factors fueling the rapid expansion of the ETF market and how asset managers can profit from the expansion -- predicts that ETF assets will reach $2 trillion by 2015.
Fed Survey Reveals Favorable Credit Terms for Pension Funds
The Fed’s Senior Credit Officer Opinion survey shows that banks are offering more favorable credit terms to large investors in an attempt to move back towards traditional bank lending.
Study: Hedge Fund Investment to Spike at $195 Billion
According to the latest numbers from Preqin research, institutional investors are considering hedge fund investments that could be worth a combined $195 billion over the next 12 months.
CalPERS Seeks Private Equity Vehicle for Domestic Emerging Managers
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has announced that is searching for an investment vehicle that will focus on domestic emerging managers for the pension fund’s private equity program.
Report Says Optimum Gold Allocation to Achieve Inflation Protection Totals 5%
New analysis by Oxford Economics suggests that higher allocations to gold could benefit portfolios in both inflationary and deflationary scenarios.
Nonprofit Healthcare Providers Average 10.9% Return on Assets, Study Shows
The Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Healthcare Organizations Report revealed that nonprofit healthcare providers averaged 10.9% return on investable assets in FY2010, continuing a positive trend from 2009.
Tentative Recovery Seen for Private Equity Funds
U.S. and European private equity, venture capital, and buyout funds showed strong levels of fund-raising in the first half of 2011, says Dow Jones LP Source.