Hello, snowy Philadelphia! Please keep your airport open long enough for me to get home. Thanks. Meanwhile, the news:
- Fire Fighting: The New Zealand Super Fund has been under fire at home for a recent $200 million loss. (Recall that a Portuguese bank default somehow managed to dodge the credit default insurance the NZSF had purchased to manage this risk.) Well, news out this week may help the SWF put the fire out: It just announced it made 4% last ... month ... and also set a new record for its AUM. Here are some of the noises NZ politicians will likely make upon hearing this news: “Oh. Huh. Good. Well... carry on.”
- A Mighty Wind: APG is considering investing “several hundred million euros” in an offshore wind farm. Do it, Eduard. Do it.
- The Land of Oz: OP Trust is one of many large Canadian pension funds focused on Australian infrastructure.
- Benefits of Scale: After realizing they are getting hammered on the fees and costs they are paying to financial services providers, one UK pension is calling for greater collaboration with its peers: “What became clear when they began the transformation process was that they were paying far more than they were aware of ... scale and in-house expertise were the way to go.” Indeed.
- Infrastructure: Large institutional investors are increasing their infrastructure allocations and also increasing the percentage they want to hold on a direct basis.
- Rebalancing: Last quarter Japan’s Giant Government Pension Investment Fund sold government bonds and bought stocks ... to the tune of $46 billion.
- Rainy Days: Ghana will begin drawing down on its $600 million sovereign wealth fund in order to smooth its budget shortfall due to collapsing oil revenues.
- Out of Africa: The Libyan Investment Authority’s Board of Directors met for its first time in 2015 ... in Malta.
- SDFs: Taiwan’s National Development Fund has just seeded a new fund with $50 million to target local startups making mobile, big data and Internet of Things applications.
Have a great weekend!
