Financial Times Mandate articles from August 2002

Financial Times Mandate archives from August 2002

News: ABP risks hypocrisy claims over securities lending ban.(Netherlands-based pension fund to stop lending stock to hedge funds)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... ABP, Europe's biggest pension fund, has denied accusations of hypocrisy over its decision to stop lending stock to hedge funds, while itself planning to run at least part of its equity portfolio under a long-short strategy. The e150bn...

News: Fidelity and Vanguard fight to keep briefs in $3bn New York shake-up.(US)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... US active equity giant Fidelity and passive counterpart Vanguard are among 25 managers fighting to retain mandates worth a combined $3bn from the New York State Deferred Compensation Plan. As the fund tenders more than half of its $5bn in...

News: Herts hands full-time fund control to Mercer.(Hertfordshire County Council appoints Mercer Investment Consulting, UK)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Hertfordshire County Council in the UK has appointed a permanent investment consultant for the first time and may put its entire GBP1.2bn pension fund out to tender. Mercer Investment Consulting beat off competition from Hymans Robertson...

News: Failed bids force rerun at Lasers.(Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System still searching for US growth equity manager)
August 12, 2002... The Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (Lasers) has reopened its search for a US growth equity manager to run up to $300m after dissatisfaction with the first round of responses. Lasers issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a...

Editorial: Clarity needed to wake clients from reverie.(Editorial)
August 12, 2002... Institutional clients in continental Europe want it all. They are demanding good performance with tight risk controls and accusing managers of failing to understand investment objectives. A new report from financial services house Invesco...

News: In brief - ABN Amro closes Luxembourg funds.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... ABN Amro's Luxembourg office is to close three funds due to lack of interest. The e12m in its Global Life Society Fund, which invests primarily in pharmaceutical firms, will be absorbed into the larger Pharma Fund. Jan Jaap Hazenberg, head...

News: In brief - MLIM settles with Sainsbury for oe70m.(Merrill Lynch Investment Managers)(J Sainsbury PLC)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Merrill Lynch Investment Managers has settled an out-of-court claim over underperformance. J Sainsbury, a British supermarket chain with a GBP2.4bn pension fund, is thought to have received around GBP70m as compensation for losses. The...

News: In brief - Towers hands manager research role to Russell.(Towers Perrin)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The UK arm of investment consultant Towers Perrin has signed a deal to hand over its fund manager research duties to Frank Russell in order to focus solely on advising clients on broad asset allocation policy. Towers Perrin will continue to...

News: In brief - Cross-border funds suffer slight decline.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Fitzrovia International has launched a research product that ranks the largest 30 cross-border fund management companies by total net assets on a monthly basis. The figures show that the monthly change in total net assets across the...

News: In brief - Fidelity loses $175m from Kern County.(Kern County Employees' Retirement Association)(Fidelity Investments)(Abbott Capital Management Inc.)(Barclays Global Investors Ltd.)(Pantheon Ventures)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... California-based Kern County Employees' Retirement Association has fired Fidelity from a $175m mandate. The assets have been awarded to private equity multi-managers Abbott Capital and Pantheon Ventures, as well as index ginat Barclays Global...

News: In brief - UK charity portfolios face slump in funding.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... UK charities are facing a funding crisis driven by falling stock markets. They are suffering the double problem of poor portfolio performance and a slump in donations, according to UK fund manager Close Wealth Management. Close said the...

News: In brief - MFS takes Teachers brief from Deutsche.(MFS Investment Management)(Chicago Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Deutsche Asset Management has lost a $325m active international growth equities mandate from Chicago Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund to MFS Investment Management.

News: In brief - Top 100 UK firms show oe25bn funding deficit.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... A new accounting rule has revealed a deficit of GBP25bn in the top 100 British company pension funds. But UK experts played down the funding gap, saying the FRS17 accounting standard only provided a market value snap-shot of the long- term...

News: Eurofer signals funds tender.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Italy's railway industry workers pension fund, Eurofer, has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from balanced asset houses and fund administrators. The fund expects to have assets of e26m by year-end and plans to award a maximum of five...

News: New hires to follow Icelandic style shift.
August 12, 2002... Iceland's largest pension fund is planning a radical overhaul of its investment portfolio which will see the fixed income segment cut from 74 to 50 per cent as the equity allocation is beefed up. The $1.4bn LSR pension fund is also to...

News: Colorado allots $250m to Alignment.(Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association has awarded the Austin, Texas-based Alignment Capital Group a $250m private equity advisory mandate. Alignment Capital Group will advise the pension fund on small-cap private equity...

News: Henderson and Gifford await oe240m Royal ruling.(Henderson Global Investors)(Baillie Gifford and Co.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The UK's GBP240m Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Superannuation Fund is poised to decide whether to replace Henderson Global Investors and Baillie Gifford. The two managers each run half of the fund's assets in balanced portfolios....

News: Tremont keeps drawing trumps.(Tremont Advisers Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... New York alternative investment specialist Tremont Advisers has won two mandates from US pension funds. In its first foray into hedge funds, the YMCA Retirement Fund in New York allocated Tremont $50m to create a segregated fund of hedge...

Comment and Analysis: Whom do you think you are kidding, Mr Riester?(Walter Riester)
August 12, 2002... German finance minister Walter Riester's pension reform is under the spotlight as never before. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development figures predict Germany's pension costs will rise to a massive 18.4 per cent of gross...

News: Hewitt seals purchase of France's Finance Arbitrage.(Hewitt Associates L.L.C.)(Finance Arbitrage)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Hewitt Associates has extended its European consultancy business with the purchase of leading French player Finance Arbitrage for an undisclosed sum. "We expect the investment consultancy market in France to grow pretty fast over the next...

News: Westpac unveils Sagitta.(Westpac Banking Corp.)(Sagitta Wealth Management)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Sagitta Wealth Management is the new name for Rothschild Australia Asset Management (RAAM) and West-pac's wealth management operation in Australia and New Zealand, writes Tim Blue from Sydney. Westpac bought RAAM's business for A$323m (e...

News: AMP, Standard Life and Widows added to civil list.(Scottish Widow's Fund and Life Assurance Society)(Standard Life Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The UK government has taken on AMP, Scottish Widows and Standard Life to provide a new money purchase element to the civil servants' pension scheme. An official said the three were chosen based on stheir "financial strengths", their...

News: AP3 splits Asia brief three ways.(State Street Corp.)(Capital International Inc.)(Schroder Investment Management Ltd.)(JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... State Street has lost a $378m passive Asia-Pacific mandate from the Third National Swedish pension fund AP3. Following strategic asset allocation review, AP3 is moving away from solely passive management to a mix of passive and active. ...

News: In brief - Baring grants Reech a platform to manage risk.(Baring Asset Management Inc.)(Reech Capital)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Reech Capital has won a mandate from Baring Asset Management to provide the company with Reech RiskHedge, its hedge fund risk platform system. Through use of this system, Baring hopes to improve the transparency of investment portfolios...

News: In brief - Friends creates new Royal appointments.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Friends Ivory & Sime (FIS) has appointed seven people to its new-look institutional team. After its acquisition of Royal and SunAlliance, FIS has appointed three of the firm's staff to new posts. Jon Yates becomes director of institutional...

News: Sachs and Currie funds join Russell's armoury.(Goldman Sachs and Co.)(Martin Currie Investment Management)(Frank Russell Co.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Frank Russell's multi-manager operation has added two new investment houses to its fund mix. The firm has selected New York-headquartered Goldman Sachs Asset Management as an additional manager for its two US small-cap equity funds, which total...

News: Jupiter takes SRI to Japan.(Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.)(socially responsible investment)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Jupiter Asset Management has launched a socially responsible investment (SRI) fund for Japanese investors. The Jupiter World SRI Fund is targeted at institutions and has raised Y3bn (e26m). The firm has teamed up with fellow Commerzbank...

News: FSA review of analysts to stop bogus 'buy' recommendations.(United Kingdom. Financial Services Authority)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Research analysts in the UK could face tough new regulations imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). In a new discussion paper, the FSA raised concerns over conflicts of interest between equity research and investment banking. ...

News: ETFs shine amid the decline.(exchange traded funds)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Investors are turning their backs on direct equity investments in favour of exchange traded funds (ETFs). According to a new report by Merrill Lynch, assets in the 246 available ETFs worldwide have hit $130bn. Michael Maras, head of global...

How the deal was won: Axa's consistency appeals to Inscape.(AXA Roseberg Investment Management L.L.C.)
August 12, 2002... Specialist player Axa Rosenberg has poached a mandate from French giant CDC on the strength of its disciplined quantitative research process. The client, Inscape, which is the multi-manager wealth management arm of UK bank Abbey National,...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: Malborough lights up at prospect of oe133.5m.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... UK outsourcing company Marlborough Stirling has won a mandate from Edinburgh Fund Managers to provide administration services to its 20,000 pension fund polices, worth GBP133.5m (e213m). Following a lengthy, competitive selection process,...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: CSAM adds e935m to Mellon purse.(Credit Suisse Asset Management)(Mellon European Fund Services)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Mellon European Fund Services has won an extra GBP586m (e935m) from Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM). This takes the firm's mandate to GBP2.25bn. Mellon will provide third-party administration services to the funds CSAM acquired from...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: State Street wins extra e2.6bn from Assante.
August 12, 2002... State Street has increased its mandate with Canadian-based Assante Asset Management by C$4.1bn (e2.6bn). The global securities services company has been selected as sole global custody provider to Assante's 36 mutual funds, worth C$5.6bn. ...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: BBH brings corporate actions online.(Brown Brothers Harriman and Co.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) has upgraded its corporate actions service by making it available online. The spruced-up service, ActionWorld, aims to simplify and make corporate actions processing more transparent. Transactions passed via...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: In brief - Newberry joins Jefferies to lead European expansion.(Mark Newberry, Jefferies Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... New York-based Jefferies Group has poached Mark Newberry from Lazard Brothers as part of its European expansion plans. Reporting to Gregory Summers, senior vice-president of international securities lending, Mr Newberry will manage securities...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: In brief - BT signs up FMC to bolster client reporting.(Bankers Trust Funds Management)(Financial Models Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Financial Models Company (FMC) has won a mandate from BT's institutional business - BT Funds Management - to provide the telecoms company with its client reporting system, FMCPages. Yolanda Willett, managing director of FMC Software, FMC's...

Custody, Settlement and Technology News: In brief - COR Risk Solutions takes on two key personnel.
August 12, 2002... Portfolio analytics software provider COR Risk Solutions has hired Paul Lawrence and Carl Lauer as part of its expansion programme. Carl Lauer has been appointed business development executive and Paul Lawrence pre-sales consultant. Mr Lauer...

Interview: Naine Chakar - Informal tie proved the weakest link.
August 12, 2002... After three years, the ABN Amro Mellon global securities services alliance has finally laid its cards on the table and cemented the partnership. The informal marketing partnership described as a "virtual alliance" by its new chief...

People News: Ahto to run Pimco's European operations.(Laura Ahto, Pacific Investment Management Co.)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Pimco has poached Laura Ahto from Deutsche Bank Global Securities Services to head up its operations and administration division in London. Reporting to Joe McDevitt, head of Pimco Europe, Ms Ahto will run European operations,...

People News: Axa Rosenburg hires Millar for UK sales.(Stephen Millar)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Axa Rosenberg Investment Management has hired Stephen Millar as head of UK sales. Headhunted from Schroders, Mr Millar will spearhead the company's drive to win institutional mandates. The new role was created to free up Hamish Gowen,...

People News: Sperber hot property for Merrill fund.(Marcus Sperber)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Marcus Sperber has been appointed fund manager on the property team at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM). He joins from specialist industrial property managers Ashtenne, where as head of property development he set up a strategic joint...

People News: Henderson loses Mackintosh to Aegon.(Jamie Mackintosh, Aegon Asset Management)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Henderson Global Investors has lost Jamie Mackintosh to Aegon Asset Management. Mr Mackintosh joins as business development manager and will concentrate on targeting institutional investment consultants. He will report to Louise Waugh, who...

People News: Bausono finds new niche at Deutsche.(Barry Bausano)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Barry Bausano, the former head of the macro group at Tiger Management, has surfaced as managing director and global head of hedge funds at Deutsche Bank Global Markets Division. Reporting to Colin Grassie and Jonathan Paul, co-heads of...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Europe - Iceland warms to research hothouse.
August 12, 2002... MFS International has embedded research into its corporate culture. The firm puts its success at winning a global equity mandate from Iceland's largest pension fund (LSR) down to this fact. LSR has handed the fund manager approximately...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Asia-Pacific - Catholic superfund vows to stay active.(Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund)(Suncorp Investment Management )(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Brisbane-based Suncorp Investment Management has picked up a A$40m (e22m) domestic fixed interest mandate from the Catholic Superannuation and Retirement Fund. Peter Launders, business development manager at Suncorp Investment Management,...

Portfolio: Asset Allocation - Americas - Indiana recruits pedigree partners.(examination of operations of Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer)(Company Profile)
August 12, 2002... The fund managers at private equity house Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer like to keep things secret. The US buyout specialist never talks to the press in the hope that its competitors will not discover its approach. In the same vein, it has a...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from Europe - Investors bear burden of equity market fears.
August 12, 2002... For much of last year, investors in Europe had to contend with an economic environment that was not conducive to stronger equity markets. After nearly 10 years of uninterrupted economic growth in the US and UK, which led to excessive...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from the Americas - Inventory rebuilding likely to keep growth afloat.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... As the economic data surfaced in June, rounding out second quarter information, it became apparent that the inventory-induced rapid growth experienced in the first quarter was not going to be repeated in the second quarter. However, some...

Portfolio: Market Analysis - View from Asia-Pacific - Patience is a virtue during periods of uncertainty.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Although Pacific stock markets have outperformed the US and Europe for three quarters in a row, they have been unable to fully de-couple from the decline in major stock markets. The FTSE Asia-Pacific Index fell 3.8 per cent in sterling terms in...

Mandate Research: Socially Responsible Investment - Pension Schemes - UK reputations at stake.
August 12, 2002... When UK trade union insurer UIA dropped Deutsche Bank for Morley Fund Management in June, the trustees said they had been happy with Deutsche's performance but that they wanted their money invested in a socially responsible way and Deutsche was...

Mandate Research: Socially Responsible Investment - Pension Schemes - Hermes' hunch for the underdogs.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Unlike most equity funds, the Hermes European Focus Fund looks out for underperforming companies. The fund, which attracted E50m from Dutch pension fund PGGM in March, holds large stakes in up to 20 firms which "have not been doing well,...

Mandate Research: Socially Responsible Investment - Pension Schemes - US firms get rude SRI awakening from 401k plans.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... US companies have been dragged kicking and screaming into SRI by the back door with the advent of 401k pension schemes which give workers a say over how their money is invested. The situation has created delicious ironies. Ford Motor...

Mandate Research: Socially Responsible Investment - Benchmarking - Introducing the 'shadow' index.
August 12, 2002... As socially responsible investment (SRI) gains broader international recognition, greater investor awareness of the risks involved is essential for taking the right decisions. Commerzbank Securities (ComSec) recently carried out some...

Mandate Research: Transition Management - Risk Control - Total transition.
August 12, 2002... The transition from one portfolio manager to another typically requires significant portfolio restructuring. The resulting transactions create systemic risks to the performance of the fund during this transition period, especially if the...

Mandate Research: Investment Funds - Clearing and Settlement - Fund distribution review overdue.
August 12, 2002... In the staid and settled world of investment fund processing, serious alternatives are emerging to challenge the near-monopoly of the branch- banking system as the distribution channel of choice in Europe. The most noteworthy is the fund...

Regional Survey: Eurorpe: Germany - Fear fuels fixed income flurry.
August 12, 2002... German institutions, running scared of volatile markets, are forcing their asset managers into a dilemma. "Investors are searching for the Holy Grail," says Martin Theisinger, managing director of Schroders in Frankfurt. "They dream of...

SSgA wins A$9.2bn from State Super restructure.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... State Super, the high-profile Australian public sector superannuation fund, has split A$24bn (e13bn) in assets among 13 investment managers as part of the first major mandate reshuffle since its assets became fully contestable in June. ...

Cheshire offers oe75m for private equity slots.(Cheshire County Council pension fund)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The UK's Cheshire County Council pension fund is tendering a GBP75m (e120m) global private equity fund of funds mandate. The investment represents 5 per cent of the GBP1.5bn scheme's assets. Maggie Sheppard, financial manager at the...

Mellon scores $1bn with three NFL plans.(National Football League Player Benefit Plans)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Mellon Financial's global custody operation has scored a $1bn contract from the National Football League (NFL) Player Benefit Plans in the US. Mellon Global Securities Services (Mellon GSS) will provide custody, accounting, reporting and...

AP2 puts up $5bn for global equities tender.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... The Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2) is to outsource five international equity portfolios worth $5.26bn. The $13.5bn state-run fund will employ between six and 30 managers to run the portfolios which could be sector or...

Third-party animals: Le Gesse keeps us guessing.(Tim Le Gesse, Indiana state pension fund)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... "It's private equity and it should stay private!" This was the tight-lipped response of Indiana state pension fund's alternative investments chief, Tim Le Gesse, when we asked him why the fund had chosen Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer for its...

Third-party animals: Axa gets bullish over its cows.(CowParade London 2002)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Priding ourselves on our subtle way with words, financial writers were horrified to read an announcement from Axa Investment Managers professing themselves "udderly" delighted to be sponsoring "CowParade London 2002". The Cow Parade...

Third-party animals: Only shares and horses.(ABN Amro Mellon staff believe they have the stock market sussed)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Despite being global custody specialists, staff at ABN Amro Mellon reckon they have got the stock market sussed. TPA spent an instructive day at the horse races with the firm's PR head honchos Tim Harrison and Nadia Misconi. After emerging from...

Third-party animals: Bernstein makes money funny.(Peter Bernstein)(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... Peter Bernstein, featured in our last issue predicting the future of the stock markets, is leading a double life. A serious number-crunching economist by day, by night he transforms into Professor Pettibone Daniels, a disgruntled academic, for...

Conferences.(Brief Article)
August 12, 2002... - European Pensions Market Forum 2002, Munich, September 18-19 (German Summit September 17) - Official publication: FT Mandate Contact: ICBI on +44 (0)20 7915 5103 or icbi_registration@ibci.co.uk - Guaranteed & Structured Alternative...

News: Aon next in line to offer multi fund range.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
August 26, 2002... Aon is poised to become the latest investment consultant to branch out into multi-management. The firm is in the final stages of choosing managers for a range of funds and will announce its selection next month as it launches the new...

News: Boots runs pounds 166m credit after break from equities.(new accounting standard FRS17 applied to pension funds)
August 26, 2002... A radical change in investment strategy by a major UK pension scheme has paid off under a controversial new company accounting rule that could be imposed upon continental Europe. Boots, a major UK retailer with a GBP2.3bn (e3.6bn) scheme,...

News: Cuffe's holiday raises industry eyebrows.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Chris Cuffe, chief executive of Colonial First State (CFS) - the Australian arm of First State Investments - has gone on extended leave, sending rumour mills spinning in local fund management circles. The absence of Mr Cuffe comes a month...

News: CalPERS determined to operate cleaner manager regime.(the California Public Employees' State Retirement System established new guidelines for fund managers and brokers)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... The US's largest pension fund has laid down heavy new guidelines for fund managers and brokers to prevent conflicts of interest in the post-Enron world. The $143bn (e146bn) California Public Employees' State Retirement System (CalPERS) has...

Editorial: New exotic CDOs are flavour of the month.(collateralised debt obligations)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Europe is emerging as the engine room of innovation in the collateralised debt obligation (CDO) market. Major credit events may have contributed to the downgrading of a huge number of CDO tranches this year, but undeterred, originators have...

News: In brief - Norges puts up e600m for new equities tender.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Norges Bank Investment Management, overseer of the e75bn Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund, has announced e600m in equity requests for proposals (RFPs). It will place e400m in two telecoms mandates and is asking managers that applied to...

News: In brief - Greenwich opens entire oe480m portfolio to offers.(London Borough of Greenwich Pension Fund )(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... The London Borough of Greenwich Pension Fund has put its entire GBP480m portfolio, currently managed by Schroder Investment Management and Deutsche Asset Management, out to tender. The local authority's assets will be split between GBP190m...

News: In brief - JPMorgan Fleming Asia fund comes tops.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management's Life Asia Equity Fund is the top- performing fund in the Russell Mellon/CAPS Pooled Pension Fund Survey over three years and has come second over a five-year period. The JPMF Japan Equity Fund has also...

News: In brief - Merrill appoints two to comply with Spitzer.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Merrill Lynch has appointed two company veterans to ensure its equity research is independent and complies with the terms of the agreement struck with Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General, in May. Mark Goldfus, a former...

News: In brief - LSE defends hedge funds selling short.(London Stock Exchange)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... The London Stock Exchange has defended hedge funds against claims that aggressive short-selling by some of their number has caused equity market volatility. A spokesman for the LSE said: "Short-selling enhances price discovery and...

News: Sagitta ties up property expertise.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Sagitta, the investment management business of Australia's Westpac Banking Corporation, has linked up with major US property manager AEW Capital Management to invest in global property securities. It is the fourth alliance by Sagitta, the...

News: Watson's manager choices `put to test'.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Consultancy Watson Wyatt is to publish previously confidential data on the performance of its recommended managers. The data will cover the consultancy's "notional" portfolios and is aimed at showing clients how effective its analysts are...

News: NTGI takes on $50.8m for Nissan.(Northern Trust Global Investments to manage pension funds)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) has won $50.8m in equity index mandates from Nissan North America. The mandates, which include $31.9m from the $243m Nissan's California pension fund and $18.9m from the $195m Tennessee pension fund,...

News: Morley engages pensions with SRI progress reports.(socially responsible investments from Morley Fund Management)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Morley Fund Management has launched a socially responsible investment (SRI) programme designed to aid institutional investors in engaging with companies on social and environmental issues. The Sustainable Futures product will deliver twice...

News: SEI refines global bond mix.(SEI Investments)(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... SEI Investments, a fund manager and independent multi-manager, has introduced a global bond strategy and appointed Fischer Francis Trees & Watts and Alliance Capital Management to its roster. SEI said the managers' differing styles should...

Comment and Analysis: Easy to hedge on performance claims.
August 26, 2002... Hedge funds have been aggressively marketed over the past two years, with bold claims that they can deliver upbeat returns even in a bear market when their traditional equity manager peers are struggling. Now amid a persistent bear market,...

News: Bahrain bureau adds to Mellon's Middle East presence.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Mellon Global Investments, the London-based international distribution subsidiary of Mellon Financial Corporation, is to open an office in Bahrain. The move marks the first anniversary of a strategic alliance with Ahli United Bank (AUB),...

News: Islamic fund growth rates hit new high.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... The $5bn Islamic funds market is growing faster than global funds at rates of 12 to 15 per cent a year. Western firms dominate Islamic funds and run nearly 70 per cent of current assets under management. The bulk of assets in Islamic...

News: Pimco, Citigroup slice up ATP emerging bond brief.(Brief Article)
August 26, 2002... Pimco and Citigroup Asset Management have grabbed mandates totalling $206m from the $30bn Danish pension fund, ATP. Pimco and Citigroup AM will each run a $103m global emerging market bond portfolio, run against the JPMorgan Emerging Market...