Feb 01, 2012 -- by Jabez Grant

Consultants Share Institutional RFP Preparation, Execution Tips

At the IMCA conference in New York, William Craig Dobbs and Patrick Schussman of Graystone Consulting secured their audience’s rapt attention as they provided succinct tips on best practices and recalled humorous experiences regarding the industry’s request for proposals process.

Feb 01, 2012 -- by Carl Winfield

LPL Chief Touts Market Strength

Burt White, chief investment officer at Boston-base LPL Financial, set tongues wagging at the 2012 Investment Management Consultants Association’s New York conference by telling a room full of investment professionals there’s a disconnect in market sentiment and market reality.

Jan 31, 2012

Morningstar CIO Urges Look Beyond Established Models

Chicago-housed Morningstar’s CIO Tom Izdorek allayed fears the “diversification” mantra consultants have made a near dogma since 2007 may have been all smoke and mirrors, at the 2012 Investment Management Consultants Association conference in New York Jan. 30-31

Jan 30, 2012 -- by Carl Winfield

Developed Markets Retain Support Despite Slowdown

The emerging market story that has be promoted since the dog days of the financial crisis showed no signs of wear at this year’s Investment Management Consultants Association meeting at New York’s Marriot Marquis.

Jun 03, 2011

Pension Obligation Bonds: A Mixed Blessing?

Ray Mitchell, Affiliate Professor of Finance and Derivatives at Regis University, pointed to pension obligation bonds as potentially beneficial in that they remove some of the pressure on the government to make pension funding payments. But as panelists at IMN's Illinois Public Employee Retirement Systems Summit pointed out, these bonds are no panacea.

Jun 03, 2011

Panel Spotlights Illinois Pension Changes

IMN's Illinois Public Employee Retirement Systems Summit kicked off with a discussion of the sweeping changes taking over public pensions. Chris Lauzen, an Illinois State Senator, gave the rundown of the new Illinois Senate Bill 12, which affects all fire and police pension funds in the state, proposing a number of significant benefit changes for newly-hired employees.

Jun 03, 2011

Consultants Weigh In On Return Assumption Conundrum

Consultants at the Illinois Public Employee Retirement Systems Summit batted around the issue of return assumptions, an issue of much contention since the financial crisis. Alex Rivera, an actuary with Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company, noted that the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued an exposure draft pertaining to potential new accounting standard for pension funds, which indicates that if a plan sponsor does not adequately fund liabilities, its investment return assumption would have to be reduced. "If the contribution is not appropriate and robust, the fund's return expectation could by in the area of 6%," he said.

Jun 03, 2011

Brookfield: Don't Sit On Real Estate, Improve It

David Arthur, a managing partner in the North American real estate investments business at Brookfield Asset Management, urged real estate investors to focus on increasing income in their portfolios. "You want to increase the income in your assets. After that the market will recognize this and the value of your asset will go up," he said in a presentation at IMN's Illinois Public Employee Retirement Systems Summit.

Apr 04, 2011

Regulation, Corporate Governance Lead Discussion

Regulation and corporate governance were the primary areas of focus in the opening half of today's Council of Institutional Investors annual meeting in Washington D.C. A mixed group of opening speakers that included plan sponsors, judges, hedge fund managers and Luis Aguilar, commissioner for the Securities and Exchange Commission weighed in positively, if sometimes with hesitation, regarding domestic and international regulations that have passed over the last year.

Apr 06, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Corp. Governance In Spotlight In Wake Of Citizens United

Over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allows unlimited anonymous political spending by corporations or unions, its effect on corporate governance and proxy voting was still a discussion point at the Council of Institutional Investors’ annual meeting held in Washington D.C. this week.

Apr 05, 2011

CII Picks Trustees

The Council of Institutional Investors has named its nine public fund trustees for the year, capping a two-day conference held in Washington D.C. this week.

Apr 06, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Financial Services Blames Asset Managers for AIG

The Financial Services Committee (FSC) chief of staff Larry Lavender provoked some nervous laughter at a luncheon at the Council of Institutional Investors annual meeting in Washington DC when he blamed investment managers for the government bailout of AIG.

Apr 13, 2011

Macro Experts Tackle Strategy, Each Other

Luskin, Donald Plan sponsors, managers and consultants got a somewhat heated earful on macroeconomic issues on the opening day of the 2011 Pension Bridge Annual Conference in San Francisco, April 12-14, as Peter Schiff, President and Chief Investment Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital and Trend Macrolytics’ CIO Donald Luskin debated whether the United States’ best days as an alpha driver are behind it.

Apr 14, 2011

CIOs Dish On Discount Rates

Managers and consultants were given a rare opportunity to find out what’s on the minds of public pension fund cios at this week’s Pension Bridge Annual Conference in San Francisco. Not surprisingly, the question on many of the cios’ minds was whether there’s a way to reach their current discount rates in the present market.

Apr 14, 2011

High Equity Weighting Trumps LDI Risk Parity?

Mar 17, 2011

Moguls Prod Funds For Film Money

Asset Managers aren’t the only ones lining up for public fund money. Motion picture mavens Morris Ruskin, ceo of Shoreline Entertainment, and Richard Reiner, president of Shooting Star Pictures came to the 16th Annual Public Funds Summit to throw the film industry’s hat into the fund-raising ring too.

Mar 17, 2011 -- by Carl Winfield

Experts Debate Real Estate’s Future

There was a low-key debate on the future of real estate investing at the 16th Annual Public Fund Summit as Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and now Executive Chairman for CityView, a Los Angeles real estate investment firm, engaged in a discussion with Cleveland, Ohio-Based Courtland Partners’ Managing Director Ben Blakney.

Mar 16, 2011 -- by Carl Winfield

Managers Mull Commodities Next Wave

Funds have been making big moves into commodities in the wake of the credit crisis and, not surprisingly, many of those in attendance at IMN’s 16th Annual Public Funds Summit were supportive of the asset class as a diversifier and a potent hedge against inflation.

Mar 16, 2011 -- by Carl Winfield

Emerging Markets Not There Yet

Panelists at IMN’s 16th Annual Public Funds Summit took an unusually dour view of emerging markets. Though nearly all acknowledged that returns in developed markets would remain low for the immediate future, markets such as the U.S. garnered more faith than some expected.

Mar 15, 2011 -- by Carl Winfield

Managers Push Energy As Global Demand Rises

The potential for core meltdowns at a few of Japan’s nuclear plants caused some concern over the viability of nuclear power generation and alternative energy solutions at the IMN’s 16th Annual Public Funds Summit in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Mar 15, 2011 -- by Carl Winfield

Funds Seek To Cut “Black Swan” Risk

Risk, and how to better mitigate the chances of another “black swan” event, was front-and-center at Information Management Network’s 16th Annual Public Funds Summit, in Huntington Beach, Calif. today.

Sep 27, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

N.Y.’s DiNapoli Floats Commission On Retirement Security

Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller of New York State and fiduciary for the $146.89 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) today floated the idea of a national commission to address long-term security of existing defined benefit plans in the U.S. at the Council of Institutional Investors conference in Boston.

Sep 26, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Board Diversity Database Launched at CII

The Diverse Director Datasource, a directory for institutional investors focusing on fostering more diversity on corporate boards, was formally announced during the opening day of this year's Council of Institutional Investors meeting in Boston, Mass.

Sep 26, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

GMO's Grantham Gloomy On Global Growth

In a wide-ranging and largely pessimistic forward-looking take on the economy, Jeremy Grantham, the co-founder and cio of investment firm GMO, said markets are facing a classic bear market scenario, price to earnings ratios are out of whack, and global markets may teeter in unpredictable ways in the short term.

Sep 27, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Seidman: GAAP, IFRS Rules Change Next Year

Leslie Seidman, chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, said at the Council of Institutional Investors conference in Boston yesterday that convergence between generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) and the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) will get pushed back until 2012.

Sep 27, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Whitney: U.S. Problems 'Structural'

Meredith Whitney, ceo of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group, said at today's Council of Institutional Investors conference that domestic economic problems are structural and that in the future, the U.S. can become the “Saudi Arabia of food.”

Sep 28, 2011 -- by Kevin Dugan

Rolling Stone Journo Expounds On Credit Crisis Reportage

Matt Taibbi, author of a number of books and reporter for Rolling Stone, addressed the lunchtime crowd during the Council of Institutional Investors' fall meeting in Boston, Mass., focusing on how he started reporting on the financial services industry, his infamous “Vampire Squid” article, and alleged fraud on which he has reported.