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The Case For Long-Termism in Pension Investments

Pension funds, more so than other investors, operate on a particularly long time horizon.

But that doesn’t mean funds can’t succumb to short-term thinking.

Keith Ambachtsheer, Director Emeritus of the International Centre for Pension Management at the University of Toronto, makes the case for more long-term thinking at pension funds in a recent paper published in the Rotman International Journal of Pension Management.

He lays the groundwork of short-term thinking at pension funds by presenting this statistic:

My 2011 survey of 37 major pension funds found that only 8 (22%) based performance-related compensation on measures over four years or more.

In other words, pension funds aren’t rewarding long-term thinking. But how can that be changed? From the paper:

A good start is to insist that the representatives of asset owners become true fiduciaries, legally required to act in the sole best interest of the people (e.g., shareholders, pension beneficiaries) to whom they owe a fiduciary duty….the resulting message for the governing boards of pension and other long-horizon investment organizations (e.g., endowments) is that they must stretch out the time horizon in which they frame their duties, as well as recognizing the interconnected impact of their decisions on multiple constituents to whom they owe loyalty (e.g., not just current pension beneficiaries but also future ones).

Increasingly, fiduciary behavior and decisions will be judged not by a cookie-cutter off-the-shelf “prudent person” standard by a much broader “reasonable expectations” standard.

A logical implication of these developments is that the individual and collective actions of the world’s leading pension funds are our best hope to transform investing into more functional, wealth-creating processes.

It will take work, but a shift to long-termism will be worth it, according to the paper:

Institutional investors around the globe, led by the pension fund sector, are well placed to play a “lead wagon” fiduciary role as we set out to address these challenges. Indeed, the emerging view is that pension sector leaders have a legal obligation to look beyond tomorrow, and to focus the capital at their disposal on the long term.

Will the effort be worth it? Logic and history tell us that the answer is “yes.” Qualitatively, long-termism naturally fosters good citizenship; quantitatively, a 2011 study that calculates the combined impact of plugging the upstream and downstream “leakages” in conventional investment decision making with a short-term focus found that the resulting shift to long-termism could be worth as much as 150 basis points (1.5%) per annum in increased investment returns (Ambachtsheer, Fuller, and Hindocha 2013).

Read the entire paper, titled The Case for Long-Termism, here [subscription required].

Funded Status Of Canadian Pensions Falls in Third Quarter

The funded statuses of Canada’s defined benefit plans collectively fell in the third quarter to 91.1 percent, marking a 4.9 percent decline over the last three months; at the end of the second quarter, plans were 96 percent funded.

The data comes from Aon Hewitt, who surveyed 275 of Canada’s defined benefit plans, both public and private.

From MarketWired:

[The DB plans’] median solvency funded ratio — the market value of plan assets over plan liabilities — stood at 91.1% at September 26, 2014. That represents a decline of 4.9 percentage points over the previous quarter ended June 30, 2014, a 5.5% drop from the peak of 96.6% reached in April 2014, and a 3.1% increase over the same quarter in 2013. With the decline, this quarter’s survey results reverse a trend throughout 2013 and 2014 of improving solvency positions for the surveyed plans. As well, approximately 23% of the surveyed plans in Q3 were more than fully funded at the end of the third quarter this year, compared with 37% in the previous quarter and 15% in Q3 2013.

[…]

“Canadian DB plans have strung together a nice run of winning quarters, but as we have been saying for some time now, market volatility continues to present significant risks and plan sponsors should be implementing or fine-tuning their de-risking strategies in order to stay current and optimized in the face of ever-changing capital market conditions,” said William da Silva, Senior Partner, Retirement Practice, Aon Hewitt.

“Now that we have seen plan solvency decline for the first time in over a year and a half, hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call to all plan sponsors to consider their funding and investment strategies with risk management as their key objective. Overall Canadian plan solvency is still relatively strong compared to where things stood just a few years ago, so there is still time to act. But with new mortality tables coming into effect, we expect material increases in liabilities for many plans. Clearly, that is another signal that the time to act is now.”

The 4.9 percent drop in funding was the first funding decline in nine quarters, or over two years.

Pennsylvania Not Cutting Hedge Funds Despite State Auditor’s Skepticism

CalPERS’ decision to pull out of hedge funds is having a ripple effect across the country.

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale released this skeptical statement on the state pension system’s hedge fund investments:

“Hedge fund investments may be an appropriate strategy for certain investors and I trust that SERS and PSERS weigh investment options carefully,” DePasquale said in a statement. “But, SERS and PSERS are dealing with public pension funds that are already stressed and high fees cost state taxpayers more each year. I support full disclosure of hedge fund fees paid by our public pension funds and we owe it to taxpayers to ensure that those fees do not outweigh the returns.”

Spokespeople for both the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS) have now responded. The consensus: the pension funds will not be cutting their hedge fund allocations.

From Philly.com:

SERS has no plans to cut hedge funds further. “Hedge funds play a role in our current board-approved strategic investment plan, which was designed to structure a well-diversified portfolio,” SERS spokeswoman Pamela Hile told me. With many more workers set to retire, hedge funds (or “diversifying assets,” as SERS prefers to call them) combine relatively steady returns with low volatility “over varying capital market environments.” By SERS’s count “difersifying assets” are now down to $1.7 billion, or 6% of the $28 billion fund and returning 10.7% after fees for the year ending June 30, up from a 10-year average of 7.4%.

Says PSERS spokeswoman Evelyn Williams: “We agree with the Auditor General that hedge funds are appropriate for certain investors. Not all investors can or should invest in hedge funds. Clearly CALPERS reviewed their hedge fund allocation and acted in their own fund’s best interests.

“PSERS also sets our asset allocation based on our own unique goals and issues. We do not have any immediate plans to change our hedge fund asset allocation at this time… PSERS’ hedge fund allocation provides diversification for our asset allocation and is specifically structured so it does not correlate with traditional equity markets…PSERS hedge fund allocation has performed as expected and provided positive investment returns over the past fiscal year, one, three, and five years.”

SERS allocates 7 percent of its assets, or $1.9 billion, towards hedge funds. PSERS, meanwhile, allocates 12.5 percent of its assets, or $5.7 billion, towards hedge funds.

Photo by TaxRebate.org.uk

CalPERS Is Ramping Up Its Real Estate Portfolio. Why?

Last week marked a big shift in investment strategy for CalPERS, and it goes beyond hedge funds. The pension fund’s hedge fund pullout got all the headlines, of course, but CalPERS also decided to invest an addition $1.3 billion in real estate.

The reasoning behind dropping hedge funds has been made clear. But what about the real estate investments? Over at GlobeSt.com, Erika Morphy explores some of the reasons that could be behind CalPERS’ deep dive into real estate.

From GlobeSt.com:

It’s business as usual

It was just real estate’ turn, says Stephen Culhane, who heads the investment management practice at the law firm Kaye Scholer.

“Institutional investors are always assessing and reassessing their allocations,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Commercial real estate valuations are strong and it is perceived as a bit as a safe haven particularly for non US and long-term investors.”

It’s a shift in investment philosophy – and not just a change in asset allocation

CalPERS handles over $300 billion for over 1 million current and former state employees. Their investing philosophy is transitioning from a classic hedge fund, 60/40 model, to more of an endowment model, says Jeff Sica, founder and CIO of Circle Squared Alternative Investments.

“CalPERS is aiming to reduce volatility and obtain a more predictable annual return across their portfolio,” Sica tells GlobeSt.com. “Their move into real estate provides them with stability and a quantifiable income stream. With reduced volatility and a stabilized annual return, it will be more beneficial to them in the long run instead of fluctuating with the equity market,” he says.

Hedge funds have lost their appeal.

Despite CalPERS careful explanations, this is the theory of Bill Militello, co-founder and CEO of Militello Capital.

“The increasing trend of moving away from hedge funds is due in part to their lack of transparency and a lack of understanding of the investments—they are intangible,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Hedge funds are simply public securities in a different wrapper, they are not an asset class, they are a compensation scheme.”

There is also evidence that hedge funds on an overall basis have actually underperformed versus passively managed funds, Chauncey M. Swalwell, partner with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, tells GlobeSt.com—”making the relatively high fees typically paid to hedge fund managers untenable at CalPERS.”

It is an inflation hedge

This is the flip side of fund’s decision, Militello adds. “Properly purchased real estate in supply constrained markets with built in demand drivers provides access to well-insulated investments that protect against rising interest rates.”

There isn’t space here to list all the potential reasons listed. You can read all seven reasons here.

LACERS also committed an additional $190 million to real estate investments last week.

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.

CalSTRS, Others Bankroll Study on Economic Impact of Climate Change

To date, there have been zero state-level pension funds that have heeded public calls to divest from fossil fuel-dependent companies.

But that doesn’t mean some pension funds aren’t interested in learning the impact climate change could have on their investments in the future.

Several of the world’s largest pension funds, including CalSTRS, have joined with Mercer to conduct a study forecasting the impact of climate change on markets over the next 40 years. From Chief Investment Officer:

The study aims to map out potential climate scenarios and their impacts on economies and markets, with forecasts stretching out to 2030 and 2050.

It follows a weekend of marches across the world calling for action on climate change, as the United Nations prepares to meet for a Climate Summit in New York on September 23.

Among the pension funds signed up to the study are the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), New Zealand Super, and Sweden’s AP1. In total, Mercer said asset owners representing $1.5 trillion were backing the survey.

Jane Ambachtsheer, head of Mercer’s global responsible investment team, said the survey’s objective was “to help investors make robust, well–researched investment decisions that factor in a consideration of climate change”.

“New data points and scientific evidence are now available, including the topical subject of the potential risk posed by so-called ‘stranded’ carbon assets,” she added. “Ultimately, it’s about enabling institutional investors to adapt over the longer-term.”

Brian Rice, portfolio manager at CalSTRS, was among those welcoming the launch of the study. “The multi-scenario, forward looking approach to this study makes it unique,” he said. “Investors will be able to consider allocation optimisation, based on the scenario they believe most probable, to help mitigate risk and improve investment returns.”

A few days ago, CalSTRS announced plans to triple its investments in clean energy.

Photo: Paul Falardeau via Flickr CC License

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.

CalPERS Sticking With Commodities After Considering Pullback

CalPERS is not exiting commodities, a fund spokesman said this week, although it had slashed its commodities portfolio earlier this summer. CalPERS’ complete pullback from hedge funds made some observers wonder whether other allocation shifts were on the horizon.

But for now, the fund says its commodities investments will continue as planned. From Reuters:

The $300 billion Calpers…has maintained a portfolio of commodity futures tied to the S&P GSCI since 2008.

[…]

“This [hedge fund] decision does not impact … commodities, or any other program, at Calpers,” he said in an email, referring to Calper’s decision to pull out of hedge funds entirely.

Some of the hedge funds on Calpers list may have commodities exposure and dropping them could indirectly affect sentiment in the sector, investment advisers said.

[…]

The Calpers’ commodities portfolio has fluctuated in value since its 2008 inception, due to both the performance of the S&P GSCI and portfolio adjustments made by Calpers.

From $1.4 billion at end-June 2008, it plunged nearly 60 percent in value over the next year to around $600 million after the financial crisis. After rising to $700 million in 2010 as commodity markets rebounded from the crisis, the portfolio suddenly rocketed in value, reaching a high of $3.2 billion at end-June 2012, apparently from new money channeled by Calpers.

But as commodity markets struggled again in 2013 and Calpers realized little earnings from the investment, it slashed the portfolio, bringing it to $1.3 billion by June this year, a preliminary report for 2014 showed. Much of the funds were diverted to inflation-linked bonds, Calpers data showed.

Reports had surfaced back in August that CalPERS was seriously considering cutting back its commodities investments. The Wall Street Journal wrote:

One of the more-dramatic moves under consideration is a complete pullback from tradable indexes tied to energy, food, metals and other commodities, according to people familiar with the discussions. Calpers began making such investments in 2007 as a way of diversifying its portfolio…

[…]

The discussions are taking place between the fund’s interim Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos and Calpers’s other top investment executives. The Calpers board hasn’t yet been informed about any possible changes and no final decisions have been made, the people said.

Obviously, CalPERS never pulled the trigger on a commodities exit. But the fund has shown a willingness to quickly shift its investment policy and a preference for low-cost investments.

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.

CalPERS, LACERS Ramp Up Real Estate Commitments

CalPERS already made headlines today for deciding to pull $4 billion from hedge funds and hedge funds-of-funds.

But there was another bit of news that was less headline-worthy, but still important: CalPERS has decided to invest an additional $1.3 billion in real estate funds, according to a report from Pensions & Investments:

The $298 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, added $600 million to Institutional Logistics Partners, a real estate partnership with Bentall Kennedy. CalPERS first invested $250 million in Institutional Logistics Partners in March 2013. The strategy seeks to invest in core industrial properties.

Separately, CalPERS added a total of $700 million to two real estate partnerships with GI Partners.

The pension fund added $400 million to TechCore and $300 million to CalEast Solstice. TechCore invests in “technology advantaged” properties in the U.S., such as data centers, Internet gateways, corporate campuses for technology tenants and life-science properties in U.S. metropolitan areas, according to a news release from CalPERS. The pension fund first invested $500 million in TechCore in May 2012. The size of the CalEast Solstice portfolio could not be learned by press time.

LACERS, meanwhile, is committing $190 million to real estate funds over the next two years, according to a separate Pensions & Investments report:

Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System plans to commit $140 million to four new open-end core real estate funds this year and make $50 million in additional commitments in 2015, minutes from the pension fund’s Aug. 26 board meeting show.

Townsend Group, real estate consultant for the $14.4 billion pension fund, is recommending the pension fund this year commit about $35 million each to Clarion Partners’ Lion Industrial Trust, Jamestown Premier Property Fund,Morgan Stanley(MS) Real Estate’s Prime Property Fund, and Principal Real Estate Investors’ U.S. Property Account.

The recommendations will be presented to the board for approval at a later meeting. The recommendation is part of the pension fund’s decision in May to double its exposure to core real estate to a 60% target and decrease non-core investments to 40% from 70%. LACERS has an overall 5% allocation to real estate, with $739 million funded as of March 31.

Photo by thinkpanama via Flickr CC License

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