Weekend Giant Reading: January 30 – February 1

Here’s some reading to enjoy this weekend:

- Dealflow: The Qatar Investment Authority will finally get control of Canary Wharf, as its hostile bid of $4 billion finally hit the mark.

- Emerging Markets: Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation is aggressively pouring investment capital into Indian real estate.

- Chief Networking Officer: The CPPIB has a new role within its senior ranks called the “global head of investment partnerships.” Perhaps they read this.

- The Law: BNY Mellon may face bribery charges over internships it gave to relatives of sovereign wealth fund officials.

- Tilts & Assets: APG apparently has a “Greek-exit-tilt” in its current portfolio mix.

- Pricing: Ontario Teachers’s CEO offers a thoughtful analysis of today’s financial markets: “Everything is expensive.” Indeed it is.

- Humans I: PSP has recruited André Bourbonnais away from CPPIB; he will become PSP’s President and CEO.

- Humans II: The UC Office of the CIO lives up to its name: it has now hired three people that were CIOs at other places to work there.

- Trophies: ADIA just bought a new office building in Paris for €477 million.

- Hippies: And the top university endowment in managing climate risk is... the University of California. Yeah that seems about right.

- Oilsplosion: North Dakota is bracing for a $4 billion hole in its revenue forecast, which is bigger than its current buffer fund (i.e., the Legacy Fund).

- Canada Remodeled: The king of direct investing, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has committed C$300 million to a private equity fund-of-funds. Say whuck?

- The Fee Machine: A remarkable new paper shows that the cost of diversification far outweighs its benefits, especially in asset classes like hedge funds or private equity. Here’s a remarkable blurb: “We show the so-called ‘free lunch’ of diversification is anything but free. Diversification is properly considered only in light of its costs. More-exotic asset classes come with higher investment management fees. Higher fees offset diversification benefits. In many cases, the extra fees completely overwhelm the diversification benefit—fees obviate all benefit of many seemingly-attractive diversifiers.” Amen.

Have a great weekend!