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Bloomberg – Massachusetts will cut investments in hedge funds after its public pension plan lost a record 24 percent on all assets in the fiscal year ended June 30.
The state pension plan’s board of trustees voted today to lower the amount of money invested in hedge funds to 8 percent, or about $3 billion of the $37.7 billion it oversaw at the end of June, from 12 percent, which is about $4.5 billion. The vote reversed a five-year effort by the pension system to boost returns by expanding such alternative investments.
”We all have to understand we’re making a bet on what assets will do well,” said state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, chairman of Massachusetts’s pension reserve investment management board. “Ultimately, we don’t make decisions based on the short-term, but we get measured on the short-term.”
Examiner – There is a global movement towards the harmonization of best practices and standards in the hedge fund industry amongst investors, hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, policymakers, service providers and regulatory authorities. In response to the global financial crisis, the G20 agrees on the need to extend regulation and oversight to all systemically important firms, including hedge funds.
Organizations such as the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB), International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), Managed Funds Association (MFA) and the Asset Managers’ Committee of the President’s Working Group (PWG) have individually published viewpoints on how a system of best standards and practices should be adopted.
Bloomberg – Former Democratic political adviser Hank Morris and New York State Deputy Comptroller David Loglisci may hold the keys as authorities examine whether private equity firms and hedge funds knowingly paid kickbacks to manage state pension money.
The pair, accused of orchestrating the alleged pay-to-play scheme, is in the best position to explain what firms including Carlyle Group and Quadrangle Group LLC were told while allegedly being led to dole out sham finders fees between 2003 and 2007, attorneys who represent investment advisers said. Both men have said they will fight the state and federal claims.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Vienna based hedge fund manager Salus Alpha Group Services GmbH has been awarded the alternative investments award of geld-magazins for extraordinary good performance for their Salus Alpha Directional Markets UCITS III Funds.
The Swedish state pension platform, Premium Pension Authority, recently included Salus Alpha funds in its portfolio. Included on the platform are Salus Alpha Real Estate, multi manager funds Salus Alpha Event Driven, Salus Alpha Managed Futures and Salus Alpha Equity Hedged.
The Salus Alpha funds that were chosen are UCITS III compliant, and meet the strict requirements regarding transparency, daily liquidity and adequate administration procedures set up for hedge funds by the Swedish pension authority.
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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – The Swedish state pension platform, PPM, is including Salus Alpha funds in their premium pension portfolio with immediate effect. The Salus Alpha funds that were chosen are UCITS III compliant, and meet the strict requirements regarding transparency, daily liquidity and adequate administration procedures set up for the Premium Pension Authority.
By launching the first UCITS III fund that tracks a hedge fund index in September 2007, Salus Alpha paved the way for hedge funds as an optimal portfolio component for retirement investment, by adding multi-manager alternative investment products, the returns can be increased while decreasing the risk.
The Swedish pension system is divided in three parts; income pension, guaranteed pension and premium pension. For the premium pension the pension saver has a number of funds to choose from. Every pension saver can decide in which fund and what amount of money he wants to invest. At the moment the Premium Pension Authority’s fund holdings of 5.8 million pension savers are valued at a total of 27.5 Billion Euro ($36.7 billion).
By including these funds in the portfolio the Swedish Premium Pension Authority confirmed the market leadership of Salus Alpha in the regulated alternative investment sector.
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Times Online – The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which oversees $38 billion, voted to fire hedge-fund firm Austin Capital Management after losing $12 million with alleged Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff.
The state pension board also decided at a meeting in Boston today to dismiss Ivy Asset Management, the hedge-fund unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp., because several senior managers have left the firm. About $430 million in pension assets were invested with Ivy and $130 million with Austin, the board said.
Austin invested pension assets with Tremont Partners, the hedge-fund unit of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. Tremont placed money through its Rye Select Broad Market Prime Fund LP with Madoff, the New York financier accused of fraud in a scheme that may have cost clients $50 billion.
