In 2016, Trusted Insight interviewed more than 70 institutional investors at the world's leading pension funds, endowments, family offices and sovereign wealth funds, among others. Here are the most memorable quotes we heard this year:
You keep seeing similar products come to have traction then die, only to come back again. The number of times I’ve seen tactical asset allocation come back is at least four or five. It’s like buying your underwear at JC Penney's, and all of a sudden it comes back as lingerie from Victoria’s Secret. (Read full interview here.)
-- Robert Maynard, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees' Retirement System Of Idaho
I think that the idea of alternative and traditional assets is an antiquated notion. We need to look at big asset category groups -- equities, credit, rates, real assets -- and then divide it between liquid and illiquid, physical and synthetic, long-only and long/short. (Read full interview here.)
-- Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees Retirement Association Of New Mexico
It’s been eight years since the great financial crisis, so there's a new generation of money managers now who may have never lost money. As I say, investing is the easiest business in the world until you lose money. (Read full interview here.)
-- Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees Retirement Association Of New Mexico
Focus on the biggest items first. Everyone loves chasing the next new thing, the hot new manager and the next asset class to get in before everyone else. But without a proper framework and understanding of your purpose, you’ll be chasing your tail. (Read full interview here.)
-- Rob Roy, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer,
Adventist Health System (AHS)
There's a lot of research that suggests smaller funds do better than larger funds in virtually every asset class. (Read full interview here.)
-- Stuart Mason, Chief Investment Officer,
University Of Minnesota
The reason you do private investments is less about diversifying. I think people would be fooling themselves if they think they're reducing risk by doing private investments. It's to play offense. It's to be able to generate even higher returns than you can on the public side. (Read full interview here.)
-- Lawrence Kochard, Chief Investment Officer & CEO,
University Of Virginia Investment Management Company
Often times, the best returns are built during periods of market dislocations when it's difficult to stay on the course. Your institution needs to be comfortable with your asset allocation and capable of staying on the course during periods of market volatility, because weak hands will result in getting whipsawed. (Read full interview here.)
-- Colin Ambrose, Chief Investment Officer,
UJA-Federation Of New York
We maintain discipline using a “show me, don’t tell me” process of selecting funds that market their strategies as uncorrelated. We need to have high conviction in their process and risk management, not just a limited data set of monthly returns, that a strategy can make money during a market drawdown. (Read full interview here.)
-- Shawn Egan, Chief Investment Officer,
Antares Capital
Click here to read more Trusted Insight Exclusive Interviews.
For questions, comments or story ideas, please contact us at editorial@thetrustedinsight.com
You keep seeing similar products come to have traction then die, only to come back again. The number of times I’ve seen tactical asset allocation come back is at least four or five. It’s like buying your underwear at JC Penney's, and all of a sudden it comes back as lingerie from Victoria’s Secret. (Read full interview here.)
-- Robert Maynard, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees' Retirement System Of Idaho
I think that the idea of alternative and traditional assets is an antiquated notion. We need to look at big asset category groups -- equities, credit, rates, real assets -- and then divide it between liquid and illiquid, physical and synthetic, long-only and long/short. (Read full interview here.)
-- Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees Retirement Association Of New Mexico
It’s been eight years since the great financial crisis, so there's a new generation of money managers now who may have never lost money. As I say, investing is the easiest business in the world until you lose money. (Read full interview here.)
-- Jonathan Grabel, Chief Investment Officer,
Public Employees Retirement Association Of New Mexico
Focus on the biggest items first. Everyone loves chasing the next new thing, the hot new manager and the next asset class to get in before everyone else. But without a proper framework and understanding of your purpose, you’ll be chasing your tail. (Read full interview here.)
-- Rob Roy, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer,
Adventist Health System (AHS)
There's a lot of research that suggests smaller funds do better than larger funds in virtually every asset class. (Read full interview here.)
-- Stuart Mason, Chief Investment Officer,
University Of Minnesota
The reason you do private investments is less about diversifying. I think people would be fooling themselves if they think they're reducing risk by doing private investments. It's to play offense. It's to be able to generate even higher returns than you can on the public side. (Read full interview here.)
-- Lawrence Kochard, Chief Investment Officer & CEO,
University Of Virginia Investment Management Company
Often times, the best returns are built during periods of market dislocations when it's difficult to stay on the course. Your institution needs to be comfortable with your asset allocation and capable of staying on the course during periods of market volatility, because weak hands will result in getting whipsawed. (Read full interview here.)
-- Colin Ambrose, Chief Investment Officer,
UJA-Federation Of New York
We maintain discipline using a “show me, don’t tell me” process of selecting funds that market their strategies as uncorrelated. We need to have high conviction in their process and risk management, not just a limited data set of monthly returns, that a strategy can make money during a market drawdown. (Read full interview here.)
-- Shawn Egan, Chief Investment Officer,
Antares Capital
Click here to read more Trusted Insight Exclusive Interviews.
For questions, comments or story ideas, please contact us at editorial@thetrustedinsight.com