Pension Pulse

Simon Kennedy and Rich Miller of Bloomberg report, Deflation Threat Worries G-20 Roiled by Emerging Markets : Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi have a new reason to consider what International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde calls the “ogre” of deflation: eroding confidence in emerging markets. Weaker growth from Brazil to South Africa risks unleashing a “disinflationary impulse through the global economy,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. Cheaper commodities, slower trade and sliding exchange rates in developing markets all could soften price pressures internationally. That in turn could force Federal Reserve Chair Yellen and European Central Bank President Draghi to keep monetary policy loose for longer, increasing the attractiveness of their financial assets even at the threat of creating asset bubbles. “Emerging market volatility is likely to continue,” said Roberto Perli, a former Fed economist and now a partner at Corners...

Matthew DeBord wrote a comment for Southern California Radio O89.3KPC, CalPERS strikes fear in the hearts of private equity firms : Yesterday, CalPERS, the huge California public employees pension fund, announced some good news: the $248 billion colossus made a 13.26 percent return on its investments in calendar year 2012. They're dancing with their spread sheets in Sacramento, because that's a vast improvement over the 2012 fiscal year performance, which ended on June 30. How bad was the fiscal year performance? One percent. Yep, one percent. It was bad. CalPERS has targeted a rate of return for its investments of 7.5 percent — a target that it reduced from 7.75 percent last year. So that 13.26 percent return, if it holds up through the fiscal year, will go a long way toward helping CalPERS make up what it lost last year. However, as CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Joe Dear pointed out and Pensions & Investments reported , that 13.26 percent wasn't as thr...

Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Jennifer Ablan of Reuters report, Hedge funds buy GM in Q4; Soros takes stakes in JP Morgan, Citi : Top U.S. hedge fund managers in the fourth quarter focused on the consumer sector, with investment plays ranging from high-end auction house Sotheby's to big retailers Target Corp and Walgreen Co General Motors also became the flavor of the quarter with many hedge funds as the U.S. government exited its position. This year, however, the stock price has fallen nearly 14 percent, making for a rough start for new Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra. But on Friday, the automaker's stock rose 75 cents, or 2.13 percent, to $35.95. Soros Fund Management LLC, founded by billionaire investor George Soros, purchased new stakes in banking giants J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup in the fourth quarter. Soros also boosted holdings in GM. The quarterly disclosures of manager stock holdings, in what are known as 13F filings with the U.S. Securities ...