Services Tags: Fiduciary Education

The Emergence of Infrastructure

A briefing on the infrastructure asset class and key points from our newly published position paper.

Join us for a live webinar to discuss the asset class with our infrastructure authority Elizabeth Francis and investment consultant Miguel Zarate.

We’ll brief participants on key points from our newly published infrastructure position paper [Ed: note 2018 update], including:

  • History of infrastructure – From its early beginnings in the 1980s to its current day role in an institutional portfolio
  • Benchmarking infrastructure investing – The challenges of investing in a less established asset class with a limited performance history
  • The case for infrastructure in institutional portfolios – From the growing opportunity set to diversification and hedging against inflation
  • Infrastructure related risks – Understanding the variety of risks that may adversely affect infrastructure investments
  • Infrastructure manager due diligence – With more than 270 firms and 450 funds, manager selection is critical to maximizing returns
  • Recommendation – Including open-end vs. closed-end funds and why this long-term investment is well matched for some pension funds

 

Live Webinar – Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – 10:00 AM CT 

Who should attend: Institutional investment stewards, investment managers

Please contact us for access to this video.

Investment Manager Search Stewardship

Live webinar to discuss a best practice approach to fulfilling your fiduciary duty to meet the investment manager search stewardship “Big 3” – high alpha, high integrity and low fees.

Many institutional investment programs suffered major losses during the 2008-2009 financial crisis due to poor products and even outright fraud. Lack of a disciplined investment manager search due diligence process was almost always the root cause.

Register now to join us for a live webinar to discuss a best practice approach to fulfilling your fiduciary duty to meet the investment manager search stewardship “Big 3” – high alpha, high integrity, and low fees.

Continuing the conversation from our last webinar, Investment Stewardship 2011: Fiduciary Duty in An Uncertain Decade, we’ll dive deeper into two key fiduciary responsibilities that lead to high alpha, high integrity, and low fees:

  • Quality control – Get to know managers with thorough due diligence steps to avoid fraud and poor products. We’ll review a five-step process for fulfilling your manager search fiduciary duty in detail.
  • Cost control – Keep costs from eroding performance by actively negotiating so-called “industry standard” fees. We’ll review a case study where the institution realized significant cost savings through fee analyses and aggressive negotiation.

 

Live Webinar – Friday, July 22, 2011 – 1:00 PM CT
Investment Manager Search Stewardship
The Fiduciary Duty of High Alpha, High Integrity & Low Fees

Who should attend: Institutional investment stewards, investment managers

Please contact us for access to this video.

Investment Stewardship 2011

Discusses today’s emotional market volatility and a focused approach to meeting the requirements of investment stewardship in 2011 and beyond.

In the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, institutional investment stewards are faced with more complex fiduciary duties than ever.

Join us for a live webinar to address today’s emotional market volatility and discuss a focused approach to meeting the requirements of investment stewardship in 2011 and beyond.

This webinar will review the three key fiduciary responsibilities that lead to successful investment programs in good markets and bad:

  • Risk control – Stay off the greed-fear roller coaster with complete clarity on asset allocation and a conviction to rebalance as needed.
  • Quality control – Get to know your managers with thorough investment manager search due diligence steps to avoid fraud and poor products.
  • Cost control – Keep costs from eroding performance by actively negotiating so-called “industry standard” fees.

 

Live Webinar – Wednesday, May 25, 2011 – 1:00 PM CT
Investment Stewardship 2011
Fiduciary Duty in An Uncertain Decade

Presenters: Brett Christenson, CFP®, CFA and Greg Leonberger, FSA

Please contact us for access to this video.

Real Estate Position Paper

The first of a two part series, this paper provides an overview of the commercial real estate asset class as well as recommendations and allocation guidance.

The following paper constitutes the first of a two part series on commercial real estate. This first paper seeks to establish a fundamental understanding of the asset class. More specifically, the various styles, benefits, risks, mechanics, and benchmarks relevant to commerical real estate investments are examined, with an emphasis on quantitative and qualitative illustrations. Recommendations as well as guidance toward making an allocation to the asset class are also included.

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Please also reference our 2018 Update of this position paper.

TIPS Position Paper

Analyzes the asset class in detail, and offers a recommendation for investors interested in adding the asset class to their portfolios.

Given the amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus enacted to revive the United States economy, many are concerned about inflation emerging as a credible threat to the economic recovery. While such a threat is not foreseeable in the near future, unexpected inflation can negatively impact portfolios. However, several asset classes can protect against higher than expected inflation. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (“TIPS”) is one asset class which offers inflation protection. The following paper analyzes the asset class in detail, and offers a recommendation for investors interested in adding the asset class to their portfolios.

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Understanding Currency Overlay

As portfolios have expanded to include international investments, investors must be aware of the currency risk inherent in foreign assets. Currency overlay programs provide a mechanism to mitigate currency risk. This paper examines how currency overlay programs can be used to reduce the currency risk embedded in foreign denominated portfolio allocations.

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Investing in an Inflationary Environment

Given the amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus enacted to revive the United States economy, many investors are concerned about inflation emerging as a credible threat to their portfolios, as inflation can reduce the real rate of return. While high inflation is not foreseeable in the near future, it is prudent to understand how to preserve a portfolio’s real rate of return during times of rising prices. Several asset classes can protect against higher than expected inflation, with varying degrees of statistical proof. The following paper examines the potential asset classes suitable for periods of high inflation, both on a qualitative and quantitative basis.

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Understanding TALF

In an effort to revive the credit markets, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (“TALF”) was established by the government as a means to promote private investment in the asset-backed securities market. Asset managers have been quick to move on this program, using TALF loan facilities to create TALF funds for interested clients. In the following paper, we investigate the TALF program and how it could provide liquidity to the credit market as well as attractive return opportunities for investors.

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