Section Page News - Pensions & Investments

Former Treasury Secretary Summers cites Employment Cost index as key economic indicator

Rob Kozlowski — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 11:07:49 EDT

Lawrence H. Summers said the most important indicator for the U.S. economy over the next two to three months will be the Employment Cost index.

Most of largest S&P 500 companies outperform this year

Larry Rothman — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 13:19:10 EDT

Eight out of the 10 currently largest weighted stocks have outperformed the overall S&P 500 index this year.

Equity volatility falls after spike in March

Larry Rothman — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 13:46:07 EDT

The Cboe Volatility index closed at 19.08 on April 5, down from March 13's 26.52.

S&P 500 repurchases and dividends hit record

Larry Rothman — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:12:09 EDT

S&P 500 companies returned record amounts of cash to shareholders last year.

Emerging markets equity volatility falls back

Larry Rothman — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 11:27:37 EDT

The Cboe Emerging Markets Volatility index, after spiking in the middle of March, has fallen below its year-end level.

Consumer sentiment may continue weakening in wake of bank troubles

Larry Rothman — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 11:44:08 EDT

Consumer sentiment fell in March for the first time in four months, which was before the recent turmoil in the financial sector.

DeKalb County Employees chooses SSGA for $370 million S&P 500 index exposure

Rob Kozlowski — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 10:14:33 EDT

DeKalb County Employees Retirement Plan, Decatur, Ga., hired State Street Global Advisors to run $370 million in an S&P 500 index fund.

The $1.3 billion pension fund's board approved the hiring at its Jan. 12 meeting, recently released meeting minutes show.

The pension fund conducted a search in order to bring a more "style-neutral" approach to its domestic equity portfolio, according to the minutes. BlackRock, Northern Trust Asset Management and Vanguard Group were the other finalists.

Funding comes from redeeming the pension fund's $220 million investment with SSGA's Russell 1000 Value index fund and reducing the portfolios of active domestic large-cap equity managers Jennison Associates and Loomis Sayles & Co. by $75 million each, leaving them with about $75 million each.

As of Sept. 30, the pension fund's actual allocation to domestic equities was 60%; the target is 61%.

Investment consultant Callan assisted.

Edmund J. Wall, chairman of the pension fund's board, could not be immediately reached for further information.

Long-dated Treasuries' horrible year seen as a one-off

Douglas Appell — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 09:00:00 EDT

The conditions that made a 60/40 portfolio a loser in 2022 have receded, with duration set to make a partial comeback or better this year.

CPI shows positive signs

Larry Rothman — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 12:25:59 EDT

Several categories of the consumer price index showed decelerating increases, and energy fell from the previous month.

Surplus of U.K. pension funds in PPF 7800 ticks up slightly in February

Paulina Pielichata — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:38:20 EDT

The aggregate surplus of U.K. defined benefit funds covered by the PPF 7800 index increased 1.9% in February.