The third annual Absolute Returns Funds conference for super funds, produced by Investment & Technology, canvassed a range of issues faced by super funds in assessing alternative investments. GREG BRIGHT and MICHAEL BAILEY report. Absolute returns strategies using alternative investments are far from dead post-crisis, it would seem, although their use in both asset allocation and portfolio construction is changing due to lessons learned from the past two years. The annual Absolute Returns Funds conference for super funds, held in Melbourne in September, was told, for instance, that “after the flood” the hedge fund industry would be much more attractive to investors. Greg Moessing, a managing director of the influential consulting group Cambridge Associates, said that this would be a smaller industry and the balance of power was shifting from dominance by general partners (managers) to limited partners (investor fund structures).
Rethinking fixed interest: making the ‘30’ different from the ‘70’ again
Institutional investors have been forced to decide whether they will rebalance to their pre-crisis equity allocations, which has thrust the traditional alternative in to the spotlight. “The fixed income asset class is now getting its fair share of attention amongst investment consultants, fund researchers and trustee boards…and about time too!” exclaimed Simon Doyle, Schroder Investment Management head of fixed income and multi-asset, last month. However, this re-assessment of fixed income is not always resulting in new, alpha-seeking active mandates. In fact, many investors seem determined to make fixed income truly ‘defensive’ again, as MICHAEL BAILEY reports.
Rethinking fixed interest: making the ‘30’ different from the ‘70’ again
Institutional investors have been forced to decide whether they will rebalance to their pre-crisis equity allocations, which has thrust the traditional alternative in to the spotlight. “The fixed income asset class is now getting its fair share of attention amongst investment consultants, fund researchers and trustee boards…and about time too!” exclaimed Simon Doyle, Schroder Investment Management head of fixed income and multi-asset, last month. However, this re-assessment of fixed income is not always resulting in new, alpha-seeking active mandates. In fact, many investors seem determined to make fixed income truly ‘defensive’ again, as MICHAEL BAILEY reports.
CalPERS to confront messy absolute return portfolio
Wilshire’s annual review of the US$190 billion CalPERS’ internal risk managed absolute return strategies (RMARS) has revealed a number of anomalies compared with its other global equity investments, including an over-reliance on quantitative tools and inadequate staff compensation incentives. In addition, an examination of the underlying investments in six of the hedge fund-offunds (hedge FoF) portfolios, conducted by Wilshire for the first time, revealed a “surprising number” of macro, commodities and currency funds in the portfolios. It concluded that there may be more macro, currency, commodity or directional risk in the program than the investment committee prefers, and this has been reflected in the performance of the portfolio.
CalPERS to confront messy absolute return portfolio
Wilshire’s annual review of the US$190 billion CalPERS’ internal risk managed absolute return strategies (RMARS) has revealed a number of anomalies compared with its other global equity investments, including an over-reliance on quantitative tools and inadequate staff compensation incentives. In addition, an examination of the underlying investments in six of the hedge fund-offunds (hedge FoF) portfolios, conducted by Wilshire for the first time, revealed a “surprising number” of macro, commodities and currency funds in the portfolios. It concluded that there may be more macro, currency, commodity or directional risk in the program than the investment committee prefers, and this has been reflected in the performance of the portfolio.
London 2009 Program
Time Program 8.30 – 8.55 Registration 8.55 – 9.00 Conference opening and welcome by chair, Colin Tate, director of Conexus Financial. 9.00 – 9.15 National manager, financial services, Austrade, Gary Johnston highlights the growth of Australia’s superannuation and investment market, fuelled by a mandated superannuation system, and the opportunities for offshore service providers. 9.15-9.45 Senior … Read more
Creative mandates for UniSuper as new CIO settles in
Fresh from a stint as head of asset management at China’s second largest insurance company, Ping An, the new chief investment officer of the $19 billion UniSuper, John Pearce, has some definitive views on how to position the fund for the future. He spoke to Aman da White about bringing some equities management inhouse, focussing on infrastructure in the developed world, and being more creative in setting its investment mandates.
Creative mandates for UniSuper as new CIO settles in
Fresh from a stint as head of asset management at China’s second largest insurance company, Ping An, the new chief investment officer of the $19 billion UniSuper, John Pearce, has some definitive views on how to position the fund for the future. He spoke to Aman da White about bringing some equities management inhouse, focussing on infrastructure in the developed world, and being more creative in setting its investment mandates.
The Great Currency Debate
Troy Rieck hates the word ‘unprecedented’. The managing director, Capital Markets, for Queensland Investment Corporation says that crises come along all the time. And, for the most part, Australia is, indeed, the lucky country. But what makes the crisis of the past 18 months different is not so much its severity – because it is not as severe as the 1930s or even the 1970s – but the fact that so many people have so much invested in the markets. With superannuation at negligible levels in those two previous crises and well before the big government privatisations and floats which spawned stock market investing by average workers, the slump in both listed and unlisted markets, including housing, is much more of an issue this time around.
The Great Currency Debate
Troy Rieck hates the word ‘unprecedented’. The managing director, Capital Markets, for Queensland Investment Corporation says that crises come along all the time. And, for the most part, Australia is, indeed, the lucky country. But what makes the crisis of the past 18 months different is not so much its severity – because it is not as severe as the 1930s or even the 1970s – but the fact that so many people have so much invested in the markets. With superannuation at negligible levels in those two previous crises and well before the big government privatisations and floats which spawned stock market investing by average workers, the slump in both listed and unlisted markets, including housing, is much more of an issue this time around.
The incubators are at it again
Six months of rising markets have finally done it. They’ve restarted the boutique incubation industry, which has seen more deals get done in the past few weeks than it has in the few months preceding them. One really knew it was ‘game on’ when a pioneer of incubation in Australia, Treasury Group, announced its first deal in almost two years. A related party deal at that with Mike Fitzpatrick, a living reminder of private equity’s good times, who’s been back with a vengeance lately. The former investment bankers at AR Capital, whom Treasury paid $1.1 million for a 30 per cent piece of, had a four year track record on their Australian equity long/short fund.
The incubators are at it again
Six months of rising markets have finally done it. They’ve restarted the boutique incubation industry, which has seen more deals get done in the past few weeks than it has in the few months preceding them. One really knew it was ‘game on’ when a pioneer of incubation in Australia, Treasury Group, announced its first deal in almost two years. A related party deal at that with Mike Fitzpatrick, a living reminder of private equity’s good times, who’s been back with a vengeance lately. The former investment bankers at AR Capital, whom Treasury paid $1.1 million for a 30 per cent piece of, had a four year track record on their Australian equity long/short fund.
