Pension Pulse

Fred Imbert of CNBC reports, Dow falls more than 150 points, posts worst Thanksgiving week decline since 2011 : Stocks fell on Friday as some of the most popular technology shares were under pressure once again, while a steep drop in oil prices also weighed on equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 178.74 points to 24,285.95 while the S&P 500 pulled back 0.65 percent to 2,632.56. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.5 percent to close at 6,938.98. The Dow and S&P 500 posted their worst Black Friday performance since 2010. The Nasdaq had its worst Black Friday since 2011 . For the week, the major indexes all dropped more than 3 percent. They also had their biggest loss for a Thanksgiving week since 2011. "I don't think the bull run is over but I think we're close to the end of the cycle," said Mark Esposito, CEO of Esposito Securities. "It feels a bit unsafe." Esposito cited slowing earnings growth, higher market volatility and slo...

Erica Werner and Damian Paletta of the Washington Post report, Lawmakers consider multibillion-dollar bailout for troubled pensions, retirees : Top lawmakers are considering a taxpayer-funded bailout for retirees who are members of certain failing pension plans, scrambling to solve a retirement crisis that threatens more than 1 million Americans. A draft of the plan, obtained by The Washington Post, would direct the Treasury Department to spend up to $3 billion annually to subsidize payments for retirees from certain underfunded pensions. It would also require benefit cuts, higher premiums and new fees levied against companies and union members in an attempt to make the pensions as financially solvent as possible. The proposal aims to require all parties involved to make significant concessions and caps taxpayer contributions . The retirement programs are called “multiemployer” pensions, as workers from multiple companies pay into the same retirement benefit program. But ma...

Barbara Shecter of the National Post reports, Understanding the implications of disruption at the heart of CPPIB's investment strategy, Machin says : The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is looking to use its long investment horizon and global reach to take advantage of economically disruptive forces, from advancing technology to aging populations, chief executive Mark Machin told a business audience at the Canadian Club in Toronto on Tuesday. “CPPIB looks through a very large telescope to discover the large structural changes and shifts happening in the world that will fundamentally change how we all work and live,” Machin said, citing an acceleration of technological change encompassing machine learning, automation and big data. Other disruptors CPPIB is keeping a close eye on — both for the potential to profit and to mitigate risks — are climate change, aging populations and economic power shifts in North America, Europe and Asia . “Because we are placing enorm...

Carl Winfield of Icons of Infrastructure reports, Infrastructure Investors Can Learn From Private Equity : Investors will have to begin using a private equity approach to infrastructure as the market continues to evolve. “Investors used to make money buying assets, but that assumes you can buy at multiples that are opportunistic,” Andrew Claerhout, senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group said at the 10th Annual CG/LA Infrastructure Leadership Forum. “Now, you need to develop a robust and creative value add plan to grow and reposition infrastructure assets.” Claerhout, former senior managing director for infrastructure and natural resources for the CAD $180 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), noted that part of the reason for the shift to a private equity mindset is driven by increasing government deficits that compromise its traditional role in infrastructure delivery. Moreover, as investors have flooded the market over the last decade in search of traditional assets ...

The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario put out a press release, IMCO Appoints Industry Veteran, Nicole Musicco as Private Markets Head : The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO) announced today that Nicole Musicco has been appointed Senior Managing Director, Private Markets, effective January 7, 2019. Ms. Musicco is a former executive at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan where she held various senior roles. As Vice President of Teachers’ Private Capital, she oversaw externally-managed private equity and venture capital fund positions, as well as emerging market co-investment and underwriting activities. She also led expansion into investing in new sectors. In addition, as Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, she was instrumental in establishing the fund’s office in Hong Kong, leading all investment activities in the region. Most recently, Ms. Musicco was Senior Managing Director of Ontario Teachers’ Public Equities group . “Nicole’s appointment is an impo...

Arie Shapiro reports, Which Hedge Funds Got ‘Whale Rocked’ in October? : Today is the deadline for 13Fs, where funds of all kinds will disclose what stocks they bought and which ones they sold in the third quarter. But this filing period is a bit different than others because the quarter ended just days before a rout in the market began: The Nasdaq plunged 9.2% in October, its largest monthly decline since November 2008, while the S&P 500 fell almost 7%. And volatility hasn’t subsided since -- Just look at what happened in the e-minis overnight (rallying 16 points last night only to reverse by ~33 handles, and now practically flat) or what’s been going in crude oil over the past month and a half, with WTI seeing virtually zero upticks in a straight slide from $77 to $55 per barrel . So what we may get is a proper look at who piled into some of the biggest pressure points of the market during the meltdown, for example the breakdown in the tech sector. What we won’t get...