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Report: Maryland Fund’s Below-Median Returns Coincide With Shift to Alternatives

The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System experienced a 14 percent return in the 2013-14 fiscal year. The fund’s then-Chief Investment Officer, Melissa Moye, touted the returns as “strong” – but a new report suggests not only that those returns were below-median level, but also that they were driven by a shift in investment strategy that put more money in alternative investments.

From David Sirota at the International Business Times:

According to [report authors] Walters and Hooke, a former Lehman Brothers executive, that shift [of assets to Wall Street] coincided with below-median returns for Maryland’s public pension system.

“Ironically, as the fund’s relative performance has declined, its Wall Street money management fees have risen,” the report says. “In fiscal year 2014 alone, the Maryland state pension fund paid out roughly $300 million in fees to Wall Street money managers. Over the past 10 years, these money management fees amounted to over $1.5 billion, according to the fund’s annual financial reports. Nevertheless this high-priced advice resulted in 10-year returns that were $3.22 billion (net of fees) below the median.”

If the fund had matched medianreturns for public pension systems across the country, “the state could have awarded 80,000 poor children with $40,000 four-year college scholarships,” Hooke and Walters wrote.

Maryland’s shift into alternative investments happened while the securities and investment industries made more than $292,000 worth of campaign contributions to Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley, who appoints some members of the Maryland pension system’s board of trustees. Vice News has reported that the Private Equity Growth Capital Group is a financial backer of a 501(c)4 group co-founded by O’Malley. In May, Pensions and Investments magazine reported that the Maryland governor appointed a managing director of an alternative investment firm called The Rock Creek Group to head a state task force on retirement policy.

Meanwhile, the chief investment officer of Maryland’s pension system was recently appointed to a senior position in the U.S. Treasury Department overseeing public pension policy.

“Eliminating active managers, selling alternative investments, and adopting indexing for 90 percent of the state’s portfolio would ensure median performance,” his report concludes. “These actions would also save the state huge amounts in money management fees.”

Hooke has testified in front of lawmakers advocating the increased use of index funds in pension investments – a strategy that would have worked well the last 4 or 5 years, but one that offers little protection against market contractions.

Since 2008, Maryland has more than doubled its investments in private equity, real estate and hedge funds. Those asset classes made up 29 percent of its portfolio in 2013.

5 Potential Outcomes Of CalPERS’ Hedge Fund Pullback

The last week has seen a flurry of debate of what CalPERS’ hedge fund divestment actually means in the bigger picture.

Is this an instance of just one fund shifting its investment strategy? Or is it emblematic of a larger, accelerating trend?

At FinAlternatives, the founder of a hedge fund marketing firm has weighed in on the potential outcomes of CalPERS’ decision. Don Steinbrugge writes:

Agecroft Partners believes we will see the following 5 outcomes:

1. Continued pressure on hedge fund fees for large mandates

Over the past 5 years there has been a strong trend of hedge funds increasingly offering fee breaks for large pension funds and the clients of institutional consulting firms. These fee breaks began with a discount on management fees only, but now often includes performance fees. Fee breaks vary by manager, but for a typical hedge fund with a 2 and 20 fee structure the discount is often 25% off standard fees…

2. Pension funds will continue to increase their allocation to hedge funds

The average public pension fund will continue their long term trend of increasing their allocation to hedge funds in order to enhance returns and reduce downside volatility of their portfolio…

3. More focus on smaller hedge fund managers

In a study conducted from 1996 through 2009 by Per Trac, small hedge funds outperformed their larger peers in 13 of the past 14 years. Simply put, it is much more difficult for a hedge fund to generate alpha with very large assets under management…

Steinbrugge writes much more over at the link, here.

Steinbrugge is the Founder and Managing Partner of Agecroft Partners, a global hedge fund consulting and marketing firm.

Professor: Pension Funds Need To Rethink Manager Selection

A few hours after news broke of CalPERS cutting ties with hedge funds entirely, one anonymous hedge fund manager opined: “I think it’s not hedge funds as an asset class [that are underperforming]. It’s the ones they invest in.”

But was it really manager selection that was the root cause of CalPERS’ disappointment with hedge funds? Dr. Linus Wilson, a professor of finance at the University of Louisiana, thinks so.

Particularly, he thinks pension funds are ignoring data that suggests newer, smaller managers perform better than the older, larger hedge funds that pension funds typically prefer. He writes:

CalPERS and other institutional investors such as pensions, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds have ignored the wealth of data suggesting that their manager selection criteria is fatally flawed. Hedge Fund Intelligence estimates that on average hedge funds have returned 3.7% year to date. Yet the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY) has returned over 8% over that period.

Most institutions and their consultants implicitly or explicitly limit their manager selection criteria to hedge funds with a multi-year track record (three years or more) and assets under management in excess of $250 million. The AUM screen is probably higher; $1 billion or more. Unfortunately, all the evidence shows that choosing hedge funds with long track records and big AUM is exactly the way to be rewarded sub-par returns.

A recent study by eVestment found that the best absolute and risk-adjusted returns came from young (10 to 23 months of performance) and small (AUM of less than $250 million) hedge funds. My anecdotal evidence is consistent with this fact. My young and small fund, Oxriver Captial, organized under the new JOBS Act regulations, is outperforming the bigger more established funds.

More data on the performance of newer hedge funds:

One study eventually published in the top-tier academic journal, the Journal of Financial Economics, found that, for every year a hedge fund is open, its performance declines by 0.42%. The implication is that hedge fund investors should be gravitating to the new managers if they want high returns. Yet another study by Prequin found that even when established managers launch new funds, those funds underperform launches by new managers.

The Prequin study found that managers with three years or less of track record outperformed older managers in all but one of seven strategy category. The median strategy had the new managers beating the older ones by 1.92% per annum. Yet, that same study found that almost half of institutional investors would not consider investing in a manager with less than three years of returns.

Pension funds have repeatedly justified forays into hedge funds by pointing out the potential for big returns, as well as the portfolio diversification hedge funds offer.

Dr. Wilson doesn’t deny those points. But to truly take advantage of hedge funds, he says, pension funds need to rethink their approach to manager selection. That means investments in smaller, newer hedge funds.

Blackstone Backs CalPERS Hedge Fund Pullout

Blackstone was one of the investment firms that helped CalPERS get its start in hedge funds over a decade ago. But the firm’s president, Tony James, told a crowd at a private equity event on Thursday that he supported the pension fund’s pullback from hedge funds. From Chief Investment Officer:

Speaking at a private equity event in New York yesterday, James said CalPERS’ move was “wise” given the poor returns generated by the allocation, dubbed “Absolute Return Strategies” (ARS) by the pension.

He added: “A lot of people think about hedge funds as a way to get higher returns. Hedge funds are a way to play the stock market with somewhat lower volatility and somewhat lower returns. You don’t expect hedge funds to get shoot-the-lights-out returns. You save that for private equity and for real estate.”

CalPERS hired Blackstone in 2001 to invest $1 billion in hedge funds.

Over the past 10 years, the pension fund’s hedge fund portfolio produced annualized returns of 4.8 percent, according to Bloomberg.

Texas Fund Cuts Hedge Fund Allocation By 1 Percent

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, one of the largest pension funds in the country, announced Thursday it would cut its allocation to hedge funds by 1 percent. It also changed its target allocations for equities and bonds.

Reported by Bloomberg:

The board of the $126 billion Texas system approved the change today following an asset allocation study, Howard Goldman, a spokesman, said by e-mail. Texas will reduce hedge funds to 8 percent of the pension from 9 percent, according to board documents.

[…]

Besides reducing its bet on hedge funds, the Texas pension lowered the portion of assets it gives to equities by 4 percentage points and to fixed-income securities by 2 percentage points, while adding 5 percentage points each to risk parity and private markets, according to board documents. Risk parity is a strategy for investing based on allocation of risk and private equity and real assets.

“These new allocations are expected to be funded from a diverse set of asset classes across the trust in order to increase the overall probability that TRS will be able to achieve the 8 percent actuarial return target,” according to a statement provided by Goldman.

TRS Texas is approximately 80 percent funded. It is the sixth-largest public pension fund in the United States.

Is Now the Time For Pension Funds To Push Back On Fees?

CalPERS cut ties with hedge funds because, among other reasons, the fees associated with those investments.

Some money managers and pension fund staff are saying that now is the perfect time for other pension funds to speak up about their aversion to fee-heavy investments. The managers told Reuters:

“Pension funds and everyone else would be remiss not to push on fees now,” said Brad Balter, Managing Partner of Balter Capital Management, which invests in hedge funds and is now offering its own liquid alternatives fund that mimic hedge fund performance with a lower fee structure.

[…]

Joelle Mevi, who has long been arguing for lower fees, first as chief investment officer at New Mexico’s pension fund and now as executive director and CIO at the City of Fort Worth’s pension plan, agreed that Calpers’ move could be a wakeup call.

“Top hedge fund managers could see that this is a trend and it could strike fear in their hearts,” she said.

Hedge funds reached by Reuters declined to comment. But the industry has in the past rebuffed criticism over fees and performance by saying returns tend to outperform when markets fall. It has also pointed to strong demand: hedge funds which manage $3 trillion attracted $30.5 billion in new money during the second quarter alone.

Stephen Nesbitt, who runs consulting firm Cliffwater LLC and works with prominent pension funds, said hedge fund performance, like stock performance, can vary greatly – underscoring the need for investors to make careful choices.

“There are many investors who are happy with the results. It works for some and it has to do with implementation,” he said.

It’s not out of the ordinary for pension funds to negotiate with hedge funds on the matter of fees. The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM) was doing exactly that even before the CalPERS news came out. From Reuters:

Massachusetts, which invests roughly $5.6 billion with hedge funds, is pushing to move some of that money into separately managed accounts and may even invest, at a lower cost, in liquid alternative strategies.

“Moves by the big leading pensions like Calpers only reaffirms liquid alternatives are the wave of the future,” said Brad Alford, chief investment officer at Alpha Capital Management, which has put money into hedge funds and also now offers liquid alternative funds.

“Smart investors are no longer willing to pay these high fees for single digit returns,” Alford said. “High fees, little transparency, limited liquidity, light regulation plus hard to measure risk from leverage and derivatives are not a good investment solution.”

The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System chose to drop hedge funds long before CalPERS made headlines; they made the move early this summer when they removed $550 million from hedge funds.

Photo by www.SeniorLiving.Org

Rhode Island, Raimondo Defend Hedge Fund Position After CalPERS Pullout

Rhode Island’s pension fund invests nearly $2 billion in hedge funds, or 14 percent of its overall portfolio.

In light of CalPERS high-profile pullback from hedge funds, The Providence Journal asked Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island’s Treasurer, for her thoughts on CalPERS’ decision and the fate of hedge funds in Rhode Island’s portfolio:

State Treasurer Gina Raimondo sees no immediate reason to pull Rhode Island’s pension money out of hedge funds, just because the largest public pension fund in the U.S. – the California Public Employees Retirement System – has announced plans to do so over the next year.

[…]

Asked Tuesday if Rhode Island would take its cue from Calpers, Raimondo chief of staff Andrew Roos said: “We will continue to learn from best practices around the country and will look closely at the CalPERS decision.’’

But he said: “Rhode Island’s pension fund is less than 3% the size of Calpers and has very different funding and cash-flow needs. Given our fund’s different characteristics, we will continue to pursue strategies that pursue the best outcomes for Rhode Island pension participants.’’

Roos acknowledged that the state’s hedge-fund-heavy strategy brings loads of fees. He also admitted that the hedge funds have under-performed in 2013 compared to the rest of the pension fund’s portfolio. But he stood by the investments. He told the Providence Journal:

“Every action the State Investment Commission has taken during this administration has been to promote retirement security and ensure funds will be available to pay pension checks to our retirees,’’ he said.

“After the financial collapse of 2008-2009 when the fund lost over $2 billion dollars, the SIC reviewed its policies and unanimously adopted a plan to reduce volatility while continuing to pursue strong long-term returns … As a part of the strategy to reduce volatility while maintaining strong long-term returns, the SIC improved the pension fund’s diversification, which included making allocations to hedge funds….’’

“This strategy is working,’’ Roos said. “Over the last three years we have reduced the volatility of this portfolio by 50% and achieved strong returns (1 year: 15.12%; 3 year: 9.05% as of June 30, 2014) … [But] like every other investment the state makes, the SIC and staff are constantly evaluating and making adjustments to the hedge fund allocation to ensure it is performing as intended.’’

Rhode Island’s pension fund paid $70 million in investment fees in the 2012-13 fiscal year. Meanwhile, the state’s hedge fund investments returned around 8.8 percent in 2013-14, while the pension fund’s overall portfolio returned 15 percent over the same period.

Video: CalSTRS CIO On Sticking With Hedge Funds

In the above video, we get to hear the Chief Investment Officer of CalSTRS, Christopher Ailman, weigh in on CalPERS’ decision to divest from hedge funds. The gist: CalPERS did what was right for them, but CalSTRS is sticking with hedge funds.

“CalPERS’ decision does not change our mind or our opinion,” Ailman said during the interview.

CalSTRS made its first hedge fund seed investment earlier this year when it committed $200 million to Legion Partners Asset Management LLC. Bloomberg reported back in May:

CalSTRS, based in Sacramento, California, pledged $200 million to Legion in February and took a 30 percent minority stake, investment officer Philip Larrieu, who oversees the pension’s allocations to activist managers, said in an interview last week at the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference in Las Vegas.
The pension system, which has about $4.6 billion with activist managers including Trian Fund Management LP and Relational Investors LLC, is weighing additional investments in the strategy, especially in managers such as Legion that invest in small- and mid-cap companies. Activist investors take stakes in companies and then push for changes aimed at increasing value.

[…]

The pension system will consider additional seed investments for the ability to take minority stakes in funds and early allocations for concessions on fees, according to Larrieu. CalSTRS’ other activists include Blue Harbor Group LP, New Mountain Capital LLC, Starboard Value LP, Cartica Capital LLC and Knight Vinke. CalSTRS commits a minimum of about $100 million to each fund and prefers to be the sole investor in a pool, also known as a fund-of-one structure, Larrieu said.

New York Common Fund’s Hedge Fund Target Is “Under Review”

New York’s Common Retirement Fund says it is “reviewing” its hedge fund investments, including the allocation targets for such investments as set in its investment policy.

The Common Fund makes investments for the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) as well as other systems. Pension360 previously covered the fund’s investment policy, which allows for higher allocations towards hedge funds.

Now, the Common Fund is reviewing those allocations. From Business Insider:

“We are currently reviewing our asset allocations with the goal of maximizing our risk-adjusted return on investments,” a spokesman for state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli told Business Insider on Tuesday.

[DiNapoli] stressed that only a small amount of their investments are tied up in hedge funds, however — only about 3.2% or $5.6 billion for the DiNapoli’s fund, for example.

“The target allocation, which is currently under review, was set at 4% in 2009,” DiNapoli’s office added. If he decides to maintain that target, he would actually have to move more money into hedge funds.

[…]

Scott Evans, the chief investment officer of New York City’s retirement system, said the Big Apple’s pension fund has no plans to divest from its investments in hedge funds. He pointed to the relatively small size of the city’s hedge fund investment in his explanation for why he had no plans to eliminate it.

“Hedge funds are an alternative asset class that can help improve the balance between risk and return. They are optional,” Evans said in a statement. “Two of our five systems have opted to pass on those allocations. The other three have allocated 4-5% of assets to hedge funds. We have no current plans to recommend changes to this program.”

A spokesman for the fund later clarified to Business Insider that the review was routine and scheduled, and not connected to CalPERS’ decision to end its hedge fund program.

Photo by: Christopher Chan via Flickr CC License

Advisors, Fund Managers React To CalPERS’ Hedge Fund Pullout

We’ve heard what CalPERS officials had to say about the decision to cut ties with hedge funds. But how are advisors and fund managers within the industry reacting to the news?

A few anonymous hedge fund advisors have claimed that CalPERS’ problem wasn’t hedge funds as an asset class—the problem was that the pension fund was bad at picking which hedge funds to invest in. From Business Insider:

“I think CalPERS is not a particularly good hedge fund investor,” one prominent hedge fund manager told Business Insider. He cited the pension fund’s lackluster annualized rate of return of 4.8% over the last ten years. “I would redeem too.”

He continued: “I think it’s not hedge funds as an asset class. It’s the ones they invest in.”

Another prominent hedge fund manager echoed that same sentiment.

“They got what they paid for since they only invested in managers who would cut fees. So the best funds wouldn’t do that, so they had a mediocre portfolio.”

Another investment officer gave a more measured response to the New York Times:

“I think the industry is changing. There is less tolerance for underperformance in an environment when you have a relative huge outperformance with more liquid opportunities like an S.&P.-500 index fund,” said Elizabeth R. Hilpman, chief investment officer at Barlow Partners.

“There is a lot of disappointment that hedge funds have not been able to capture more of the market results,” she added.

Several advisors gave some interesting opinions to Wealth Management, too:

“All taxable investors should take notice of this decision, because if Calpers doesn’t think the asset class is adding value for them, how does any taxable investor believe the asset class can add value in their portfolio—especially those in the top couple tax brackets?” said Scott Freund, president of Family Office Research.

[…]

“We already ignore the [hedge fund] genre because they are the Groucho Marx club of investing: The only ones that will let us in are the ones in which we don’t want to be invested,” said Stephen Barnes, investment manager and chief compliance officer of Barnes Investment Advisory. “Fees are too high. Truly a ‘heads I win, tails I don’t lose’ proposition for the hedge fund manager.”

Some advisors defended hedge funds in light of CalPERS’ decision. From Wealth Management:

Ryan Graves, wealth advisor with FirstPoint Financial, said alternatives play an important role in mitigating the risks associated with traditional asset classes.

“The time for a ‘true’ hedge fund (and not the levered up investment vehicles that many morphed into pre-2008) is when valuations are high, not after the correction has already occurred,” Graves said. “Just wait for a pullback in next 12-24 months and see how they try to explain away dumping an absolute return strategy.”

“To a contrarian this might mean it is time to consider investing in hedge funds,” said Kris Maksimovich, president of Global Wealth Advisors. “The decision could push hedge funds, especially the more expensive variety, to reconsider their pricing.”

There are plenty more quotes in the linked articles.

Photo credit: Lending Memo

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