OregonLive.com -The Oregon Investment Council on Wednesday tiptoed closer to putting public pension money to work in riskier investment vehicles such as hedge funds and commodities.
At the same time, the council shied away — for the time being — from enlarging its $100 million commitment to investments in Oregon-based startups.
The OIC, which manages more than $60 billion in state pension assets, has debated since last July whether to invest in hedge funds, a fast-growing but loosely regulated class of private investment funds.
Such investments could enhance returns and complement existing investment strategies at a time when few expect public equity markets to deliver the double-digit returns common for the past two decades. And the OIC needs to deliver at least an 8 percent annual return — because that’s what’s been guaranteed to most public employees in the system.
Having increased its allocation to private equity firms such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific Group, the council is exploring other nontraditional investments such as commodities, natural resources and hedge funds.
Hedge funds are investment partnerships whose managers invest in a wide variety of securities, including stocks, bonds, commodities.
