We are pleased to welcome you to the February 2010 edition of Mercer's investment consulting e-news update.

Asia Pacific Investment Forums     Mercer's annual Investment Forum will take place in the Asia Pacific region on 20-21 April 2010 in Sydney, 23 April 2010 in Beijing and 26 April 2010 in Hong Kong.   The event comprises one and a half days in Sydney and one full day each in Beijing and Hong Kong of challenging presentations, stimulating ideas and thought-provoking discussions that will put you at the forefront of best practice investing. It also provides excellent networking opportunities with colleagues in the industry.   Senior members of Mercer’s investment consulting team will be joined by other industry leaders to discuss a range of topics across all three events    Find out more about this event

A new era of SWF portfolio risk management

29 January 2010

After the worst financial crisis in more than 60 years, many national funds have experienced the shock of massively reduced asset prices at the same time as they were facing reduced capital injections (and in some cases withdrawals). Moreover, much scrutiny has been placed on their short term performance which has caused them to pose some fundamental questions:

• Is the fund’s investment horizon really as long-term as was previously thought?
• Have the fund’s objectives been appropriately specified?
• What are the liquidity needs of the fund going forward?

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Canada Investment Consulting - School of Pension Investment Management (SPIM)

14 January 2010

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DC plan management and pension inconsistency: Are you at risk?

26 January 2010

As part of Mercer’s recent global survey of Defined Contribution retirement plans, Mercer asked respondents a number of questions in order to assess the extent to which ESG issues and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies are influencing plan management. This article discusses survey results and our observations from the field concerning potential risks from gaps between CSR strategy implementation and DC plan management.

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Investment horizons: Do managers do what they say?

9 February 2010

This report demonstrates that investment managers themselves underestimate turnover and often do not live up to their stated claims when it comes to the holding periods for the stocks in their portfolio. As well as examining the investment horizon of active equity investment managers, the report explores the causes, consequences and possible solutions to short-termism from the investment managers’ perspective.

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Ireland - Mercer Investment Update January 2010

28 January 2010

Mercer’s Defined Benefit Survey 2009 was published in December. It shows that, while investment returns have been strong over the past six months, the recovery has not been sufficient to lift most defined benefit schemes out of deficit.

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Operational risk assessments – How much can go wrong with investment managers’ operations?

29 January 2010

An integral part of risk management for National Funds is having a framework that enables Funds to better understand the investment operational practices of their service providers; therefore the ability to manage the potential risks and costs arising from inefficient and risky practices.

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Perspectives on alternative investments - issue one

What's your next move? Challenges and opportunities in a postrecessions world

16 February 2010

Welcome to the first edition of Mercer's perspective on alternative investments. In 2009, Mercer launched its global manager research boutique structure to increase the depth and breadth of our manager research, with an increased focus on alternative investments. The new boutique structure is designed to leverage our extensive research capabilities, allowing Mercer to provide a more focused, specialised research product to clients.

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Research boutiques - Taking manager research to the next level

16 February 2010

In the wake of the global economic crisis, the institutional asset management industry is poised for fundamental change. The needs of institutional investors are global, complex, quickly changing and influenced by market events that call into question tried and tested investment practices.

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Rethinking pensions - how DC will evolve

7 December 2009

Pension Week's Rethinking Pensions campaign received 17 ideas for new and improved DC pension schemes. Tony Pugh talks through which ideas he believes will see the light of the day.

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Sentinel live event

Operational Due Diligence, The new investment decision

16 March 2010

A live interactive broadcast from the Mercer Sentinel Group on "Operational Due Diligence, The new investment decision" will be presented by Ben Gunnee, European Director of the Mercer Sentinel Group and Julian Mant, Principal.

Date: Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Time: 11:00 - 12:00

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The behemoths of the investment industry: Sovereign Wealth Funds and their take on Responsible Investment

26 January 2010

Sovereign Wealth Funds tend to recognize the importance of long-term investment horizons by virtue of their purpose. In this article, Mercer explores some of the ways that they are embracing Responsible Investment and building momentum in this area across the institutional investment industry.

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Throughout most of the world, Mercer Investment Consulting is an autonomous unit within Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC). In the US, the investment consulting business is operated through Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Inc., the US operating unit of Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC.