Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds and ERISA Pension Plans

Alternative fund managers and regulators will convene in Washington, D.C. from July 19 through 21, 2011 to talk about pension investing in hedge funds and private equity funds. Over several days, those who present before the ERISA Advisory Council will be asked to address questions such as those listed below:

• What differentiates a hedge fund from other types of investments?
• What differentiates a private equity fund from other types of investments?
• How are hedge funds and private equity funds, respectively, correlated with the returns of traditional equity and fixed income investments?
• How can defined benefit and defined contribution plan sponsors mitigate "the lack of liquidity that is characteristic of these investments?"
• How can fee transparency be enhanced?
• "Are there any unique diversification benefits offered by hedge funds and private equity investments as opposed to a fund of funds?"
• What is the view of target date fund managers with respect to including hedge funds and/or private equity strategies within their funds?

According to U.S. Department of Labor documents, the aim is to create best practices guidance in areas such as leverage, liquidity, transparency. valuation, operational due diligence, client and asset concentration and offering documents. Click to download "2011 ERISA Advisory Council: Hedge Funds and Private Equity Investments." Click to read the June 22, 2011 U.S. Department of Labor news release about the forthcoming meetings to address hedge funds and private equity investments by ERISA plans.

Interested readers may want to check out the following of many items that are available for further research:

• "Testimony of Dr. Susan Mangiero About 'Hard to Value' Assets Before the ERISA Advisory Council," September 11, 2008;
• "The Growth and Impact of Direct Investing," Citi Prime Finance, June 2011;
• "Pension Fund Investment in Hedge Funds" by F. Stewart, OECD Working Papers on Insurance and Private Equity Pensions, No. 12, OECD Publishing, 2007;
• "Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Plans Face Valuation and Other Challenges When Investing in Hedge Funds and Private Equity Funds," U.S. Government Accountability Office, July 20, 2010;
• "A Guide to Institutional Investors' Views and Preferences Regarding Hedge Fund Operational Infrastructures," Alternative Investment Management Association, May 2011;
• "The Hedge Fund of Tomorrow: Building an Enduring Firm," Casey Quirk, April 2009;
• "Pensions and private equity: where does the relationship go from here?" by Toby Lewis, Global Pensions, June 6, 2011; and
• "Private Equity Principles, Version 2.0," Institutional Limited Partners Association, January 2011.

Source: http://feeds.lexblog.com/~r/PensionRiskMatters/~3/KtSgvmnNkUY/

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