Pension Pulse

Sabrina Willmer of Bloomberg reports, TPG Scolded for ‘Stunning’ Lack of Diversity by Pension Official : Jim Coulter, the billionaire co-founder of the giant private equity firm TPG, was in a Portland suburb with one of his largest clients when he got some tough questions. The hot-button issue: a lack of diversity at the buyout firm . The unexpected scene unfolded on June 6 at the Oregon Investment Council meeting -- and was recorded and posted on its website . The exchange offers a rare glimpse at how big investment firms are facing pressure from some institutional investors to change their white-male dominated culture . About 30 minutes into the almost three-hour meeting, John Russell, the vice chairman of the council, asked the group to look at what amounted to Exhibit A: photos of the firm’s leaders in its flagship buyout unit, TPG Capital . “When I first looked at that, it was stunning to me,” Russell said. A March TPG marketing document shows only 2 women among the 3...

Arleen Jacobius of Pensions & Investments reports, CalPERS gears up for private equity portfolio changes : Private equity was a big theme at CalPERS' investment committee meeting on Monday. The $356.5 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, adopted a new investment policy statement that includes lowering the benchmark return for its private equity portfolio. The committee also discussed a proposal to change its private equity investment structure that includes creating an outside corporation to make direct investments, and it reviewed the first draft of a new private equity investment policy . Chief Investment Officer Theodore Eliopoulos kicked off the meeting by stressing the importance of private equity to the system's total portfolio . Private equity has had the highest return of any asset class and that is expected to continue, Mr. Eliopoulos said. He said the private equity portfolio has added $11 billion over public equities....

John Mauldin wrote a comment recently that caught my attention, The Pension Train Has No Seat Belts : In describing various economic train wrecks these last few weeks, I may have given the wrong impression about trains. I love riding the train on the East Coast or in Europe. They’re usually a safe and efficient way to travel. And I can sit and read and work, plus not deal with airport security. But in this series, I’m concerned about economic train wrecks, of which I foresee many coming before The Big One which I call The Great Reset , where all the debt, all over the world, will have to be “rationalized.” That probably won’t happen until the middle or end of the next decade. We have some time to plan, which is good because it’s all but inevitable now, without massive political will. And I don’t see that anywhere. Unlike actual trains, we as individuals don’t have the option of choosing a different economy. We’re stuck with the one we have, and it’s barreling forward in a decid...

Jeff Cox of CNBC reports, Trump's contradictions are swinging the stock market this year : Looking for a reason why the market's been so bumpy this year? Blame Trump. Looking for a reason why the market has held up so well this year? Blame Trump. There's been a overriding paradox this year for investors: President Donald Trump has been both a blessing and a curse, goosing stocks through tax cuts and vexing the market with a seemingly endless stream of gut-churning headlines . "We don't recall a President who has been simultaneously so bullish and bearish for stocks," Ed Yardeni, head of Yardeni Research, told clients in a note earlier this week. "That might explain why the S&P 500 has been zigging and zagging since the start of this year." Actually, the market's done pretty well for itself lately . After a wickedly volatile first quarter that saw major averages foray into correction territory, stocks have bounced back nicely. The...