Pension Pulse

David M. Toll of Reuters PE Hub reports, NY Teachers’ shows off double-digit PE gains; won’t reveal details : The New York State Teachers’ Retirement System will tell you that its private equity portfolio has generated a net IRR of 11.1 percent through the end of June 2013. But don’t ask for the details. The pension fund believes that the returns of individual funds are trade secrets, according to sister publication Buyouts. Responding to an open-records act request by Buyouts earlier this year, New York State Teachers’ did provide some insights as to where its returns are coming from. Since inception through June 30, U.S. buyout funds, which account for about half of the private equity portfolio by market value, led the way with a 13.6 percent IRR and 1.5x investment multiple, according to documents provided by the pension fund. That is followed by U.S. special situations funds (19 percent by market value) with a 12.8 percent IRR and 1.4x investment multiple; and internationa...

Gary Lamphier of the Edmonton Journal reports, AIMCo to replace CEO Leo de Bever : Alberta’s big public sector pension fund manager is in the hunt for a new boss. Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) announced Friday it has launched a search for a new CEO to replace its current chief, Leo de Bever. The 65-year-old has guided AIMCo since it was spun off by the province as a crown corporation in 2008. “Executive succession for an organization is an important fiduciary responsibility for both the board and the CEO,” AIMCo said in a news release. “AIMCo has been focusing on this initiative for a number of months and ... will now be proceeding with a search process for our next CEO to ensure a new leader is in place to guide the organization into the next phase of its evolution.” AIMCo said de Bever will continue in the role as CEO while the search process is underway. “I’m now the oldest CEO in the pension industry in Canada,” said de Bever, whose blue-chip resume inc...

Joshua Franklin and Simon Jessop of Reuters report, Fund of hedge funds face fight for cash with consultants : Funds that invest in a range of hedge funds are facing a battle to win new business, as the same consultants they court to win money from pension firms are grabbing a chunk of an industry that was already struggling to grow. So-called fund of hedge funds are designed to give investors an easy way of putting money into hedge funds, offering to spread their risks and do research into the individual hedge funds for them. But sliding asset prices during the financial crisis and the fallout of the Bernie Madoff fraud scandal saw billions of dollars exit fund of hedge funds, leading many to close or merge. Over the past few years, those that remain have found consultants - who have built up expertise after years of vetting fund of hedge funds for institutions - are now investing directly into funds on behalf of some large-scale clients. Trade publication InvestHedge fou...

David Sirota of Salon reports on Wall Street’s secret pension swindle : In the national debate over what to do about public pension shortfalls, here’s something you may not know: The texts of the agreements signed between those pension funds and financial firms are almost always secret. Yes, that’s right. Although they are public pensions that taxpayers contribute to and that public officials oversee, the exact terms of the financial deals being engineered in the public’s name and with public money are typically not available to you, the taxpayer. To understand why that should be cause for concern, ponder some possibilities as they relate to pension deals with hedge funds, private equity partnerships and other so-called “alternative investments.” For example, it is possible that the secret terms of such agreements could allow other private individuals in the same investments to negotiate preferential terms for themselves, meaning public employees’ pension money enriches those pr...

CNW reports, AIMCo Announces Strong Returns for Clients in 2013 : Alberta Investment Management Corporation ( AIMCo ) is pleased to report a 14.0 % net rate of return on behalf of its balanced fund clients, who represent $63.2 billion of assets under management, for the year ending December 31, 2013. AIMCo’s government and specialty fund clients, who represent $11.5 billion of assets under management, earned a net return of 4.0%. In aggregate, AIMCo earned a 12.5% net rate of return on assets under management of $74.7 billion, generating investment income in excess of $ 8.3 billion and active return of $589 million across all clients. Public market investments , comprised of $ 25.5 billion in Money Market & Fixed Income and $32.0 billion in Public Equities, significantly outperformed their market benchmarks, as did Mortgages and Private Debt& Loan. Private Investments in Real Estate and Timberlands also contributed to the strong performance.   States Leo de Bever...