News Archive: Dec - 2010

The Quants, Reviewed by Editor-at-Large Joe Flood

Scott Patterson's book serves as something of a corrective to the prevailing narrative on Wall Street over the past few decades—that raw cognitive abilities and ever more complex mathematical models will smooth out risk and bring us the Great Moderation.

The Origins of Innovation

From aiCIO Magazine: Editor-at-Large Joe Flood executes the ultimate tie-in-reviewing a book on the roots of innovation (whose author shares an editor with Flood) two weeks after our Industry Innovation Awards. Kudos, Flood.

CERN Revolutionizes Risk Management

Strategy + Tactics from aiCIO Magazine: "We call it a capital preservation philosophy," notes Theodore Economou, the pension head at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), echoing Benjamin Graham's mantra that to win, the first thing you have to do is not lose. "Losing money is not okay." 

Yes We Do!

From aiCIO Magazine: This is the new era of fund administration—the ‘Yes We Do’ era, not just for administrators, but for managers, as well as end investors. Bonnie Scott reports.

Ataturk Makes Good

From aiCIO Magazine: It is a curious twist of historical fate: Two bodies established to enshrine the past of an impoverished nation are the forerunners of a very wealthy future. Nick Lord reports.

Mercer Abandons Public Pension Plans

The Consultant Corner from aiCIO Magazine: As the consultant industry—an expensive, time-consuming, litigious space—continues to shift, one can't help wonder if other firms will follow Mercer's lead in a clustering effect, spurred by fear of being the last out. aiCIO Senior Editor Paula Vasan reports.