In 2016, Trusted Insight interviewed more than 70 institutional investors at the world's leading pension funds, endowments, foundations, among others. Last week, we published the most memorable quotes from chief investment officers. Equally important are the director-level investors who oversee specific portfolios and are often more astute to the pulse within their asset classes. Here are the most insightful quotes from directors in 2016:

One of our competitive advantages is to be a long-term investor in an environment that seems to be increasingly short-term. Being a long-term investor is tough because it requires a lot of discipline, patience and having the fortitude to rebalance away from things that have been working well. (Read full interview here.)

-- DeAnne Mannion, Lead Portfolio Manager
Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
 

 

Managers who stick to their long-term outlook and aren't afraid to be contrarian are where the opportunity lies. I think we, as allocators, have to stay disciplined in this market in order to really deliver value. (Read full interview here.)

-- Baron Koch, Director Of Investments,
CHRISTUS Health

Having come into this industry right before the financial crisis, there really is not such a thing as a normal investing environment. So, the ability to constantly evaluate where you are has proven to be critical. That would be my advice to anybody looking to be in institutional investing. If you're looking for status quo, it's not the right industry. (Read full interview here.)

-- David Barcus, Investment Manager,
Denison University



 

I'm not a fan of smart beta! I think it's a buzzword. Where do I see innovation? I see more strategic partnerships. I've seen more and more custom solutions with larger institutional investors. (Read full interview here.)

-- Robert C. Lee, Director Of Hedge Funds,
Employees' Retirement System of Texas




I think the purpose of pension funds gets lost when others try to view different pension plans as competitors. We are not competing against each other, we all have different assumed rates of return, and in turn we have different asset allocations and different risk targets. You start comparing apples to oranges once you start comparing returns. (Read full interview here.)

-- Megan Loehner, Director Of Investments,
Missouri Local Government Employees Retirement System


 

You spend the first three-to-five years learning 80 percent of what institutional investment or foundation investing is about in terms of asset allocation and due diligence and whatnot. Then you spend the rest of your career trying to chase down that final 20 percent. (Read full interview here.)

-- Dean Duchak, Director Of Investments,
Kaiser Family Foundaion




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