Private Equity Survey (2017)
View PDF Callan conducted a survey of institutional private equity investors to offer insights relevant to the limited partner community. We focused on deployment models, patterns of investment and commitment activities over time, governance and oversight, staffing and resources, and responsibilities for program administration functions. Our Private Equity Survey included 69 institutional investors with $1.2 trillion of […]
A Small Bounceback for Real Estate
View PDF The NCREIF Property Index advanced 1.8% during the second quarter (1.2% from income and 0.6% from appreciation). This marked the 34th consecutive quarter of positive returns for the Index. Appreciation return increased from the previous quarter, the first such gain since the first quarter of 2015. Industrial (+3.1%) was the best-performing sector for […]
As the World Churns, Despacito
View PDF Stock lovers embraced the slowly shifting narrative of global growth in the second quarter. Although hopes of a Trump bump faded further in the U.S. amid distracting Beltway theatrics, U.S. corporate profits remained resilient and credit spreads tightened modestly. Exhibiting little evidence of angst, the S&P 500 Index gained 3.1% while the Bloomberg […]
Conference Highlights: National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP)
Callan recently presented at the 28th Annual Pension and Financial Services Conference hosted by the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) in Los Angeles. In attendance were about 560 people, of which approximately 160 were plan sponsors. On day one of the conference, three programs ran concurrently: NASP Institute: plan sponsor and plan sponsor staff […]
Strong Start for Private Equity
View PDF The private equity market got off to a roaring start in the first quarter of 2017, with new commitments up sharply compared to last year. Here are some highlights from Callan’s Spring Private Markets Trends newsletter: Fundraising New private equity partnership commitments totaled $80.0 billion, with 310 new partnerships formed, according to Private […]
The Rewards of Private Equity’s ‘Unrewarded’ Risks
For many portfolios and asset allocation studies, private equity plays a starring role because it boasts high projected returns and low enough expected correlations that mathematical models such as mean variance optimization love it. But private equity is not magic. The reality is that valuation smoothing, company-size tilts, comparatively longer investment and holding periods, and […]
Open Protocol: Comparing Apples to Apples
Evaluating the risks of a large cap value portfolio against those of another has long been a relatively easy exercise for investors. However, evaluating the risks of an absolute return-oriented risk premia fund versus those of a relative value multi-strategy hedge fund is not, even though they can have the same stated investment objective.Investors who […]
Bear Market Ahead? Beware of the ‘False Charge’
View PDF When I was a Boy Scout backpacking in the Sierras, my troop assigned shifts of scouts at night to watch for marauding bears on the perimeter. To scare them off, the sentry clanged a pot or made some raucous noise. That simple response seemed to work fine—the fourfooted opportunist, however hungry, usually got […]
Dollops of Alpha with Beta
Behold the power of positive thinking. The U.S. economy moved steadily forward with revived animal spirits in the first quarter. That provided the Fed the ammunition to raise short-term rates by 25 basis points, with more increases expected in the rest of 2017. In the euro zone, tangible evidence of growth and inflation emerged, while […]
New Year, New Lows for Real Estate
View PDF The NCREIF Property Index advanced 1.55% during the first quarter (1.15% from income and 0.40% from appreciation). This was the lowest return since 2010, eclipsing the fourth quarter’s mark of 1.73%. Appreciation fell for the eighth consecutive quarter and made up less than a third of total return. Industrial (+2.83%) was the best-performing […]