New York City Comptroller Brad Lander wants state lawmakers to increase the share of its pension fund assets that can be invested in more expensive and opaque asset classes like private equity that promise higher returns. Mr. Lander is asking Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature for authority to raise a cap on alternative assets…
Tag: public pension funds
CalPERS and Massachusetts PRIM Vote Against Chevron Directors
Massachusetts State Treasurer and Receiver General Deborah B. Goldberg today announced her opposition to the election of all members of the board of Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) ahead of the company’s annual meeting on May 25. “Last year more than 60 percent of Chevron’s shareholders voted for a proposal calling on the company to set…
Michael W. Frerichs – Illinois State Treasurer: Raising The Bar on Investing
Illinois state treasurer Michael W. Frerichs is one of the most respected public pension fund fiduciaries in the country and we were delighted to see his thoughtful comments on ESG as an essential element in minimizing investment risk. Making Prudent Choices. Investing means making choices. For the investment officers at the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office,…
Public funds taking the lead in spectacular boom of ESG
Another possible factor in the Business Roundtable’s new commitment to stakeholders — greenwashing. Double- and even triple-digit growth in the amount of U.S. institutional assets in ESG investments shows no sign of slowing down, and public pension funds are leading the way. Sustainable, responsible and impact investing assets reached $12 trillion in early 2018, according…
Political Representation and Governance: Evidence from the Investment Decisions of Public Pension Funds – ANDONOV – 2018 – The Journal of Finance – Wiley Online Library
Representation on pension fund boards by state officials—often determined by statute decades past—is negatively related to the performance of private equity investments made by the pension fund, despite state officials’ relatively strong financial education and experience. Their underperformance appears to be partly driven by poor investment decisions consistent with political expediency, and is also positively…
David Webber on Employee-Funded Capitalism: “Labor’s Last Best Weapon”
In the subtitle of his highly recommended new book, The Rise of the Working-Class Shareholder, David Webber calls employee pension funds “Labor’s Last Best Weapon.” He says that working-class employees could be a powerful force for sustainable economic growth through their pension funds. In an interview, Webber talked about the opportunities and challenges in making the…
Exclusive: A New York hotel deal shows how some public pension funds help to enrich Trump | Reuters
A Reuters investigation finds that seven public pension funds are paying fees to a management company owned by President Trump. Public pension funds in at least seven U.S. states have invested millions of dollars in an investment fund that owns a New York hotel and pays one of President Donald Trump’s companies to run it,…
DC Circuit Spurns GOP Challenge to SEC Pay-to-Play Rule – In the Arena: Law & Politics Update
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today left standing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “pay-to-play” rule, which bars investment advisers from providing paid services to state and local governments when making certain political contributions to state and local officials. The court rejected as time-barred a challenge to the rule…
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