Alternative assets no longer considered “alternative” as investors diversify their portfolios and seek greater exposure to non-traditional asset classes....

"Robert Groves has joined Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) as its new CIO, replacing Tracy Blackwell who became deputy CEO of the company in March."

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are fighting hard against deflation and this will eventually have an impact on the global economy...

To the casual observer, the investment returns recently announced by the California pension system might seem like cause for celebration. The state’s investments in firms that buy private companies o...

Interest rates, unemployment, inflation, supply/demand, and a ton more, are factors affecting bazillions of daily decisions made by families, businesses of all sizes and in all industries....

The monsoon's progress has weakened, although the Met Department says it will pick up again in July. The Met Department has forecast that monsoon this year would be just 93 per cent of normal....

From OpalesqueTV Simon Lack spent 23 years at JP Morgan, running North American Fixed Income Derivatives and Forward FX trading for much of that time before founding SL Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor. His latest book, "Bonds Are Not Forever: The Crisis Facing Fixed Income Investors," examines the variety of factors that make U.S. Treasuries a bad long-term investment. According to Lack, a combination of long-term secular trends of the last 30 years has created too much debt to be financed. The public policy response has favored borrowers by keeping interest rates down and thus making bonds “really a return-free asset class”. Inflation is the real threat: Lack believes it is a bad bet that inflation will not go up and shares thought-provoking insights regarding systemic flaws of inflation statistics. Learn more about: • The convergence of three big secular trends of the last 30 years that have created too much debt to be financed. • Why inflation statistics are misleading. • Inefficiencies for retail investors in the municipal bond market: Transaction costs of between 1 and 2%. • The come back of cash: With low interest rates, combination of stocks and cash is beneficial from a risk standpoint. Following 23 years with JPMorgan, Simon Lack founded SL Advisors, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor, in 2009. Much of Simon Lack's career with JPMorgan was spent in North American Fixed Income Derivatives and Forward FX trading, a business that he ran successfully through several bank mergers ultimately overseeing 50 professionals and $300 million in annual revenues. Simon Lack sat on JPMorgan's investment committee allocating over $1 billion to hedge fund managers and founded the JPMorgan Incubator Funds, two private equity vehicles that take economic stakes in emerging hedge fund managers. Simon Lack's deep experience in financial markets, managing complex trading businesses and overseeing hedge funds provide him with a unique perspective from which to manage investments and advise clients. Simon chairs the Investment Committee of Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, NJ and also chairs the Memorial Endowment Trust Investment Committee of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Westfield, NJ. Simon is a CFA charterholder, and the author of The Hedge Fund Mirage.

Discussion of Currency Hedging Program and other Asset Liability Management related topics. There are several components to this agenda item related to the Asset Liability Management (ALM) process that is currently ongoing. This material shall be presented in a workshop format: 1. Review of the Currency Overlay Program (Program) – An analysis of the results from inception in July 1992 through June 2013 shows an insignificant overall risk impact from hedging a portion of the foreign currency exposure. Additionally, staff identified major operational costs and risks related to the Program. Therefore, staff recommends eliminating the passive Currency Overlay Program as part of the ALM decision process. 2. Updated Capital Market Assumptions (CMAs) – As indicated at the June 2013 Investment Committee (IC) meeting, the CMAs for the Global Fixed Income (GFI) asset class (as currently specified) have been updated to reflect recent interest rate changes. Additionally, CMAs for a low volatility Global Equity component have been estimated with the assistance of Wilshire Associates and Pension Consulting Alliance. 3. Actuarial Risk Considerations and ALM Workshop Preparation – At the July 2013 Board Offsite, the CalPERS Actuarial Office demonstrated a model that reflected how the combination of investment return, volatility estimates and actuarial assumptions impact three characteristics identified as “risk considerations.” These risk considerations are: - The plan’s funded level, - The level of contributions, and - The volatility or change in the contribution level. An additional element of the July Offsite presentation contemplated “flexible de-risking” of the plan as a way to improve long-term sustainability. The material presented in this item will seek to further enhance the understanding of the risk considerations’ interactions and the de-risking topic. http://www.calpers.ca.gov/eip-docs/about/committee-meetings/agendas/invest/201309/workshop-item-00.pdf

The California State Teachers' Retirement System said it has picked Hermes Fund Managers to be one of its two commodity managers, the first major step toward realizing the portfolio approved three years ago as an inflation hedge...

Robert Sanborn is co-founder of investment management firm Sanborn Kilcollin Partners, an equity long-short hedge fund based in Chicago with roughly $200mm in assets under management. Prior to starting Sanborn Kilcollin, Mr. Sanborn managed mutual fund The Oakmark Fund from 1991 to 2000. In this Opalesque.TV interview, Mr. Sanborn describes the transition from mutual fund manager to hedge fund manager, starting his own fund after coming from a mutual fund where the role is very public and visible, and a critical mass is between $10 and $30bn. Managing a hedge fund provides luxuries of a less regulated environment, investment flexibility, and most importantly, more sophisticated and less emotional investors, which allow a manager to retain intellectual commitment to their process. Mr. Sanborn describes his "Long Pepsi, Short Facebook" philosophy of investing to find stocks with no competitive destruction, and warns of a coming "Mother of all Bubbles". Learn about: • Transition from a mutual fund manager to hedge fund manager • A "Long Pepsi, Short Facebook" investment philosophy • Long stocks with no competitive destruction • Short stocks with high competition that will erode valuations • Money printing and stimulus since 2001 created inflation in series of rolling bubbles • "Mother of All Bubbles" in fixed income securities Robert Sanborn is a co-founder of Sanborn Kilcollin Partners and is responsible for the investment decisions and portfolio allocation of the Adviser. Mr. Sanborn has over 28 years experience in portfolio management and investment analysis and has been a strong and consistent proponent of value investing. Mr. Sanborn was the portfolio manager of The Oakmark Fund, the flagship mutual fund of Harris Associates, L.P., from Oakmark's launch in August 1991 through March 2000. During this period, The Oakmark Fund's assets grew from $100,000 to over $9 billion. In 1998, Lipper, Inc. ranked Oakmark in the top 10% of value mutual funds, and Barron's named Mr. Sanborn the 1997 Fund Manager of the Year. Mr. Sanborn was a long-time member of Harris Associates' Board of Directors and Stock Selection Committee. Before joining Harris in 1988, he was a security analyst and equity portfolio manager for the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System, from 1983 to 1988. Mr. Sanborn holds a BA from Dartmouth College (1980) and an MBA from the University of Chicago (1983).