News category: MandateConnect
Multi-Asset Strategies Back On Radar Of Public U.S. Plans
Nov 16, 2023
More U.S. public pension plans have been considering multi-asset strategies this year as recent credit and fixed income strength has investors reconsidering their asset-allocation models.
Continue readingParametric Pitches U.S. Plan With Novel Risk Mitigating Overlay
Nov 9, 2023
Parametric Portfolio Associates recently pitched using a portfolio overlay to boost risk mitigating strategies such as convexity and trend following for a U.S. pension plan. The asset manager, which already provides overlay services to many U.S. institutional investors, laid out how such a defensive overlay could work in an educational presentation to the Illinois State Universities Retirement System.
Continue readingLeverage In Spotlight As Some Plans Consider Ramping Up, Others Cut
Nov 2, 2023
Just as two large U.S. public investment programs are considering adding leverage to their portfolios, others are cutting it. MandateConnect data show U.S. public pensions with leverage in their investment policy statements are mostly under-levered relative to targets that range from 3% to 15% of their total portfolios.
Continue readingFinancing Costs Prompt Leverage, Synthetics Review At West Coast Plan
Nov 1, 2023
San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System is reviewing its leverage and use of synthetic equity exposure as part of a wider asset liability study. The USD33 billion plan cut its use of leverage in July as financing costs climbed with higher rates, it revealed in an educational presentation to board members on Wednesday. Now, as part of a broader asset liability review, the public pension and its consultant Wilshire plan to discuss when and how much leverage to apply to its portfolio.
Continue readingScraps And Stacks - Sunday Roundup, October 29, 2023
Oct 29, 2023
“The bond market meltdown has created a veritable smorgasbord of delectable scraps for an investing rat like me,” wrote LongTail Alpha’s Vineer Bhansali this week.
Continue readingMost U.S. Public Plans Are Overweight Cash
Oct 26, 2023
Most U.S. public plans are overweight cash, MandateConnect data show. The data, from 53 city, county and state plans that provide quarterly updates on cash position, reflect that U.S. pensions are proceeding cautiously in the current environment.
Continue readingWhat If Cash Is Still Trash? - Sunday Roundup, October 22, 2023
Oct 22, 2023
Cash is proving so attractive that more and more investors are choosing to invest in it. Bloomberg’s John Authers said a quick look at the yield of six-month Treasury bills proves their point. “For the first time this century, cash pays a higher yield in interest than the S&P 500 does in earnings,” Authers wrote. So it is no surprise a number of global fund managers talking to EQD have considered upping allocations to cash; NY Police Pension Fund, Fullerton, Lombard Odier, Maryland and Veritas, to name a few.
Continue readingChicago Plan To Cut Passive Fixed Income On Underperformance
Oct 19, 2023
Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund will cut a USD400 million investment in a passive fixed income fund after a review of the asset class found the plan’s active fixed income managers have outperformed passive managers over time.
Continue readingHedge Funds See Wide Range Of Returns In First Half, U.S. Pension Data Show
Oct 13, 2023
Hedge fund returns revealed by U.S. public pension records show a wide dispersion in returns for the first half of 2023, with few returning more than 5% in the six-months period, MandateConnect data show.
Continue readingNew U.S. Pension Commitments Favor Fixed Income, Absolute Return Strategies
Oct 5, 2023
Absolute return as well as fixed income and credit strategies have received the most new commitments from U.S. public plans since January 2022, according to MandateConnect data. The MandateConnect universe includes U.S. public pension plans that invest across a broad range of strategies in public markets.
Continue reading