Investment

GLOBAL - Sovereign wealth funds invest about US$1trn in international equity, less than half the amount of assets under management at the ten largest sovereign wealth funds, a new report found.

GLOBAL - Inflation is unlikely to be a threat in the short term due to the current levels of economic growth and the government policies implemented around the world, the latest global economic research by Baring Asset Management (BAM) has revealed.

The £10.6bn Shell Contributory Pension Fund is set to invest 5% of its portfolio in hedge funds and other alternatives for the first time, a trustee newsletter reveals.

The Pensions Regulator has reviewed and changed the information used in the valuation summary form to make it easier to review recovery plans.

Pension fund apathy on environmental issues twinned with short-term analysis of the problem has suppressed the inclusion of climate change in investment decision making, research shows.

Treasury minister Paul Myners has called for the establishment of an independent Council for Institutional Investors to speak on behalf of schemes and other institutional investors.

US - New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli will have some company as he leads the state's US$116bn pension fund if a new legislation calling for the abolition of the single-trustee model is passed.

US - The Fresno County Employees Retirement Association (FCERA) has terminated Brandywine Global Investment Management for poor performance, despite the firm offering to drop its performance fee to zero.

IRELAND - The overall returns for the National Pensions Reserve Fund were up 7.5% during the third quarter of 2009 due to gains realised in its equity holdings.

Employers are not paying sufficient attention to contract-based defined contribution scheme governance structures, Standard Life research says.