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’California acts against State Street
California has launched a $200m legal action against State Street, accusing the institutional money manager of committing “unconscionable fraud” against Calpers and Calstrs, the largest US pension funds.
Calpers rocked by ‘pay to play’
Calpers, the largest US public pension fund, revealed that a former board member had reaped $50m in fees for arranging investments that could saddle state taxpayers with big losses, reports the WSJ. The disclosure deepens concerns that alleged conflicts of interest are undermining US state retirement funds.
The Buffett effect
The pre-market action in Moody’s:
The back story here is that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed on Wednesday a lowered holding of 17 per cent in the ratings agency, down from 20 per cent previously.
Pension funds call for new BofA board
The two largest US pension funds, Calpers and Calstrs, are calling for removal of the board of Bank of America, including Ken Lewis, the chairman and chief executive. Both funds will vote against the election of all 18 BofA directors at Wednesday’s board meeting in North Carolina.
CalPERS calls out Ken
The California Public Employees Retirement Systems, or CalPERS, has Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis in its sights after Merrill Lynch-gate.
Here’s their press release:
CalPERS Votes Against Bank of America Board of Directors – Cites Losses;
First Reserve raises £9bn fund
First Reserve will on Monday strengthen its position as the energy sector’s biggest private equity investor by announcing it has raised almost $9bn for its new buy-out fund, even though the year-long fundraising fell short of its $12bn target,
Ill-timed land deals hit Calpers
US pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers, is struggling to avoid one of its worst annual declines since its 1932 inception, having lost almost a quarter of its assets since the July 1 start of the current fiscal year,
Virgin’s green fund gets first $199m
Wolverhampton City Council and Calpers, the influential Californian pension fund, have emerged as some of the maiden investors in Virgin Group’s first green investment fund. Sir Richard Branson, Virgin’s founder,
Protesting too much, Calpers edition
To mangle Wilde: To lose one senior executive may be regarded as misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. Oscar didn’t cover what it looked like to lose two within a week – and then protest that nothing’s up.
Calpers takes 10% stake in Silver Lake
California’s largest public pension fund has agreed to buy a 9.9% stake in Silver Lake Partners, making it the latest large US private equity group to tap an outside investor for capital. People familiar with the matter said the California Public Employees Retirement System,
Vinke in search of HSBC allies
Knight Vinke, the activist investor, will this week begin meeting fellow HSBC shareholders as part of its campaign to force the bank into a strategic review of its global banking operations. Eric Knight,
HSBC braced for activist campaign
An influential shareholder activist will on Friday launch a push to force far-reaching changes to the strategy and management structure of HSBC, the world’s fourth-largest bank. Eric Knight, a US activist investor,
Calpers steps up shareholder activism
In a sign of recent growth in shareholder activism, CALPERS, the world’s largest pension fund manager, said on Monday it had filed almost twice as many shareholder proposals this year as in the previous 12 months.
US funds criticise Shell for Iran activities
Royal Dutch Shell has been criticised by a group of US pension funds over its activities in Iran, home to the world’s second-largest gas reserves. In a letter seen by the FT, a group of the largest US public pension funds,
The latest set-to on hedge fund fees
There’s nothing to get the hedge blogs going like an article on the evils of hedge fund fees – and here we go again. Business Week reports this week that institutional investors, noting that the average hedge fund failed to keep pace with the market last year,
Clear Channel saga highlights tension between hedge funds, buy-out firms
Activist hedge fund managers, who like to shake up public companies, and private equity firms, which often relieve the pressure by taking those same businesses private, are increasingly clashing over the issue of valuation of deals.
Calpers is investing in emerging managers
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) has launched a new programme to “construct customized funds of emerging hedge funds that will help us find emerging managers who one day will become major players in the market.”