Newsmakers

All SWFs were not created equal, recent activity shows.

SWF transparency often is thought of as a universal positive. However, some within the asset management business are quite vocally starting to state otherwise

The poor, landlocked country’s willingness to set up a long-term investment vehicle for resource profits lends credence to the idea that the SWF model has taken hold worldwide.

Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier reportedly is considering a large investment in the government-backed program to purchase distressed debt, possibly signaling a larger trend for American pension funds.

In further evidence of the resurgence in resources and the willingness of SWF to partner with western investors, British bank Barclays is in talks with the South Korean Natural Resources Fund about joint investments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

With the Colorado Fire & Police Pension Association dropping the strategy due to poor performance, the decline of portable alpha is no longer anecdotal—it’s a trend.

Ambachtsheer, the Director of the University of Toronto’s Rotman International Centre for Pension Management, has been talking about pension governance for years. It will come as no surprise, then, that ai5000 sought out the man who, if anyone can be, is the conscience of the pension world.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has cleaned out at the executive level, but others—despite similar losses in 2008—are staying the course on investment management teams.

While some continue to refute that human action is causing global climate change, institutions—sensing a trend—gradually are allocating funds to green investing.

Often focusing more on infrastructure—dams, roads, railways—the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) has joined forces with venture capitalists to buy Internet communications company Skype, possibly signaling a move toward riskier assets for Canada’s large defined benefit plans.

Private equity, the traditional bastion of institutional investors, is struggling with poor returns and regulatory troubles as REITs continue to grow.

Although small fish itself, the regulator’s initiative to move existing final-salary scheme members into a defined contribution plan signals the end of an era – and may in fact encourage others to do the same.

Often viewed with a suspicious eye, SWFs – the current kings of M&A – are increasingly joining forces with local investors when making moves.

While seemingly inevitable, the focus on investment manager compensation has now spread to pension funds, a move that will concern many as talent retention worries continue.

PPIP, the government program to take ‘toxic assets’ off the books of banks, has received a lukewarm response in America; the Chinese Investment Corporation, however, is reportedly putting up $2 billion to invest in this mortgage-backed securities program.