"Public Fund Investing for Dummies, " a book that is as timely today as ever, is the work of Jim Koetting, a money manager at Public Fund Investment Strategies in St.
But Britain's rating is being flattered by the Private Finance Initiative strenuously promoted by the chancellor under which private companies borrow to fund public investment.
In my decades of professional experience, I have never seen a public pension fund with investment guidelines that would permit it to invest more than a limited amount of its assets, say 10%, with a single money manager.
FORBES: Red Flags Abound at $1.6 Billion City of Tampa Firefighters and Police Pension
Indeed, the Casey Institute has yet to find a single U.S. investment bank, public pension fund, mutual fund or insurance company which includes a national security-related review in its "due diligence" assessments of emerging market entities.
When a portfolio company of the fund is sold or goes public (usually several years after the fund makes its investment) at a profit to the investors, a distribution of cash (or stock if the company goes public) takes place.
In fact, the Missouri Investment Trust, the first public fund in the country to divest the stocks of companies doing business with Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea, has actually performed better since it was taken terror-free.
Calpers said its rewritten investment criteria make it the first public pension fund to look beyond traditional economic factors.
IMF's chief, has hinted that the Fund might allow some slack for additional public investment.
And individual investors, investment banks, fund-managers and particularly public pension funds should expand their "due diligence" assessments to include national security, human rights and other appropriate non-financial considerations so that the American people -- six out of ten of whom are now reportedly in the capital markets -- have the data required to make informed investment decisions.
This public pension fund is exceptional both in having zero turnover of investment advisors, using a single money manager to oversee 100% of its assets for the past 40 years, and in changing auditors every couple of years.
FORBES: New Red Flags Related to Tampa Firefighters and Police Pension "Audited" Financials
"We have had movement away from public equities because of volatility in the stock market, " fund chief investment officer Vicki Fuller said.
That is, in the former case elected officials serving on public fund boards may accept bribes and in the latter, public pension investment decision-making may be tainted by political influence peddling.
The federal securities laws are premised upon the notion that the investing public should be provided with full disclosure regarding a manager or fund prior to making an investment decision.
Mr Forbes said the sustainable cultural investment fund would "protect the arts" from the "boom and bust of public finance".
Since taxpayers remain on the hook for pension benefits promised, even if all the pension money is lost as a result of bad investment decisions, they alone will pay the price when dice-rolling decisions of public fund boards turn ugly.
FORBES: City Garbage Collectors Become Sophisticated Hedge Fund Investors
One final note: public funds are more likely to retain investment consultants than corporate pensions and consultants generally play a more influential role in connection with their unsophisticated public fund clients.
FORBES: Public Pension Shortfalls and Consultant Conflicts (September 1, 2002 )
应用推荐