Industry Voices
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Succession planning is a key area of focus for managersSuccession planning is a key element of an investor's due diligence process and, while it has always been important, it has become increasingly more so in recent years as more industry leaders near retirement age.
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Doing the homework on fossil-fuel divestmentThe past year has seen a sharp increase in activity by students across the United States advocating for divestment from fossil fuels by school endowments. For the investors struggling to address these requests, there are no easy answers.
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Operational opportunities to reduce hedge fund expensesAs the hedge fund industry has grown, so has the cost of running a fund complex. The upsurge in expenses has hastened in recent years, as firms have begun to invest in new technology and additional staff to deal with the issues of a quickly changing landscape. Regulations and investor needs have ...
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Cash balance plans challenge 401(k) plans but require intelligent investingCash balance plans are the fastest growing of the defined benefit pension plan universe and could become as numerous as 401(k) plans within the next few years. But while the benefits of plan portability, reduced longevity and investment risks, and improved legal clarification are deservedly ...
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Brazil pensions must diversify globallyAs the world's sixth largest economy with a sizable portion of its workforce moving to the middle class from lower-wage, lower-skilled positions, Brazil is in a position to learn from generations of pension evolution in other parts of the world.
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Defined contribution lifetime income strategies: time for new thinkingDefined contribution plan executives are grappling with a wide variety of issues today as they confront the problem of poor investment returns and demographic trends that make it clear millions of people could be placed in the position where they outlive their retirement savings.
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Six guidelines for pension cashout successThe news about Ford and GM making lump-sum offers last year led to a flurry of speculation that the DB cashout option would gain momentum as a risk-management strategy for many more companies.
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A global perspective on tectonic shifts in energy and the current bull marketThe equity market has been surprising forecasters since it hit bottom in March 2009, as market seers have repeatedly shortchanged this relentless bull market by underestimating the resilience of business and consumer fundamentals and overestimating the global risks.
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Getting at the heart of today's global equity markets with market indexesA narrow set of benchmark tools has handicapped investors' ability to appropriately use indexes to understand and manage their investments.
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Private equity and the efficient DC portfolio
Defined contribution plan sponsors know full well the challenges they confront as they seek to provide investment options to their participants that can generate higher and more consistent levels of return in today's low return and volatile investment environment. The role for alternatives, ...
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DB vs. DC: How unitized accounting can make a differenceWith some actuarial studies estimating the state and local pension unfunded liability for existing retirement programs exceeds $1 trillion, many public (and private) plan sponsors are considering a migration from purely defined benefit programs to defined contribution programs over time, or blended
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Tail-risk hedging: A sensible strategy for defined benefit plans?Tail-risk events — which are loosely defined as the probability of rare events taking place that could impact a portfolio of investments — are happening more frequently these days and need to be addressed by investors and their advisors to protect their investments.
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Distress, risk aversion drive a new European property dynamicDespite the torpor, self-inflicted pain, failure of political leadership and rather anemic outlook for Europe's economy, the European real estate market has continued to attract substantial amounts of capital from both European and global sources.
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Regulatory concerns in private equity fund valuationInvestment adviser registration, as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, has led to increased scrutiny of hedge fund and private equity investment managers. By most accounts, the Securities and Exchange Commission has given greater concern to hedge funds over the past several years, but it increasingly
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GASB's Pension Accounting Standards: Déjà vu all over againThe path to where we are today regarding generally accepted accounting principles for public pension plans, with the advent of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board in between, is probably worth tracing if for no other reason than to be sure the history is not lost.
