It’s the weekend! As per usual, here’s something to read in that floaty pool chair:
- Closeout: The consolidation of Sweden’s buffer funds has officially begun. And the first fund to be shut down is ... AP6. This is the domestic oriented pension reserve fund that targeted venture capital and private equity. The existing assets and team of AP6 will apparently be rolled into AP2, which is the other reserve fund in Gothenburg.
- Capabilities: If you believe that CFA designations are an indicator of investment competence, then you better believe that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is as competent as they come. It has the most CFAs in the region!
- Friendly Fire: Australia’s two biggest Giants have finally resolved their dispute over the Perth Airport auction. The Future fund has agreed to pay AusSuper $7 million to cover the latter’s legal expenses, while not admitting any wrongdoing in the matter.
- Keeping it Real: The China Investment Corporation is preparing to buy 10 malls in France and Belgium for 1.3 billion euros.
- Restructuring: The Qatar Investment Authority is reportedly embarking on an overhaul of its operating model. For example, the sovereign fund will, for the very first time in its history, set a formal target for its ... wait for it ... asset allocation. This seems like a pretty darn good idea to me ... and actually explains a lot.
- In-House: Japan’s $1.3 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund plans to develop considerable internal expertise to manage its alternatives portfolio. This is interesting (and very encouraging), as I think many people (myself included) thought that the hiring of a CIO straight out of a private equity GP would lead to a boon for private equity GPs. Not so! Apparently, the CIO has seen how that sausage is made ... and now he’s lost the taste for it.
- Stop! Hammer Time: When will the music stop for the private equity fee machine? The more articles that get published like this one, the sooner it’ll stop.
- Selfie 1: I co-authored a new paper entitled, “Energizing The US Resource Innovation Ecosystem: The Case for an Aligned Intermediary to Accelerate GHG Reduction.” Check it out.
- Selfie 2: I also blogged about why we wrote the above paper and how it all relates to the White House initiative. Check that out too!
- The Fee Machine: You may want to have a barf bag handy for this one: “CalPERS paid as much as $2.5 billion in fees to money managers in the last fiscal year.” If that doesn’t make you sick to your stomach ...
On that note, enjoy your floaty chair.
