Nominations are now open for Institutional Investor’s first annual Allocators’ Choice Awards, to be held November 28, 2017, in New York City.
The first-of-its-kind event will honor the best of institutional capital, featuring categories such as ‘Deal of the Year’ ‘Turnaround of the Year,’ and ‘Team of the Year.’ Winners will be announced at an awards dinner, which will follow an afternoon forum for an elite group of asset allocators and managers — the Masterclass. There, attendees will discuss, debate, and tackle institutional investing’s intractable problems.
Nominations for the Allocators’ Choice Awards will be accepted until July 28, and can be submitted via email to allocatorawards@institutionalinvestor.com.
Once nominations are submitted and vetted by Institutional Investor’s editorial team, only asset allocators — pensions, nonprofits, sovereign funds, and the like — will be permitted to cast ballots for the winners.
Allocators’ Choice Awards Categories
Deal of the Year
Think: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, in conjunction with Silver Lake, tripling its investment in Skype in less than two years. Don’t think: Broader asset allocation changes or private equity purchases where asset owners are only passive partners.
Partnership of the Year
Think: Texas Teachers’ strategic partnerships with large private equity houses.
Don’t think: Simply buying off-the-shelf asset management services.
Turnaround of the Year
Think: Cleaning up New York State Common Retirement Fund after the pay-to-play scandal. Don’t think: Doing the same thing as last year; making an already-great fund marginally better.
Technology User of the Year
Think: The Alberta Investment Management Corporation’s custom-built portfolio dashboard system. Don’t think: A specific product or tech provider, but rather an institution’s top-notch application of a product.
Change Maker of the Year
Think: Iconoclastic. United Technologies’ annuity-style 401(k) option; CalPERS’ divesting from hedge funds. Don’t think: A larger or especially successful implementation of the industry status quo.
Team of the Year
Think: The group that once populated the Chrysler treasury function — and that subsequently spread out to become CIOs throughout the corporate and endowment fund universe. Don’t think: Your OCIO; a superstar CIO with deputies no one seems to know.
Investment Committee/Board of the Year
Think: A public pension board that lowers its assumed rate of return, despite political pressure. Don’t think: Famous names alone are enough.
Chief Investment Officer of the Year
Think: Jack Meyer, during his tenure at Harvard. Any investment chief exhibiting all-around excellence at portfolio construction, risk management, asset allocation, manager selection, board relations, and talent development — or one who has built a team achieving all that. Don’t think: Only CIOs of large funds.
Voting for finalists will begin August 15.
