istockAnalyst.com – The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously endorsed the proposal amid widening investigations of so-called pay-to-play donations by private equity and hedge fund executives who jockey for lucrative fees to manage some of the more than $2.2 trillion in assets held by public pension funds.

"The selection of investment advisers to manage public plans should be based on merit and the best interests of the plans and their beneficiaries, not the payment of kickbacks or political favors," SEC Chair Mary Schapiro says.

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Tags: assets, beneficiaries, donations, hedge fund, investigations, investment advisers, jockey, kickbacks, mary schapiro, proposal, public-pension-funds, securities-and-exchange, securities-and-exchange-commission, trillion

Hedge Fund Net – Alternative investment strategies around the world are trudging through a slowdown, but that is not scaring away the world’s organization, the United Nations, from investing in these areas. The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF) is set to move forward with plans to put its money into hedge funds and private equity funds.

The UNJSPF was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 to provide retirement, death, disability and related benefits for staff of the U.N. and the other organizations admitted to membership in the fund, according to the UNJSPF Web site. As of Dec. 31, 2004 the fund served 20 member organizations with more than 88,350 active participants and nearly 53,000 beneficiaries.

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Tags: alternative-investment-strategies, beneficiaries, disability, joint staff, member organizations, money, participants, private-equity-funds, retirement, slowdown, united nations, united nations general assembly, united nations joint staff pension fund, unjspf