Cameron Black is chief investment officer and treasurer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona in Phoenix. He is responsible for the company’s short- and long-term investment strategies and overseas its risk management. Prior to joining BCBSAZ, Black held positions in television production, was an independent investment adviser and a director in the foundation arm of a biomedical research institute. …
The approximately $15 billion Los Angeles Water & Power Employees’ Retirement Plan (WPERP) intends to commit $400 million to private equity this year and continue to deploy capital in private equity to achieve its long-term strategic allocation target, Jeremy Wolfson, chief investment officer, confirmed. WPERP has adopted a target allocation to private equity of 8% …
The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD), which late last year engaged Aon as its new general consultant, has set the firm to work on its first project: an asset/liability study that it expects the firm will complete by the end of March. According to Tim Snoke, MSD secretary-treasurer, prior to hiring Aon, MSD had …
Renewable energy deals heated up the infrastructure sector last year, as investors sought to put an Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) focus on more of their investment portfolios. The trend should continue this year, according to Patrick Adefuye, head of real assets at research firm Preqin. Europe has been leading the charge in renewable deal offerings, but …
The decision by an Australian court earlier this month to prohibit the opening of a coal mine because the mine would contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set back the fight against climate change is being characterized by some socially responsible investing specialists as a judicial first in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) …
SS&P Global Ratings will add a new emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) evaluations of corporations within its issuer credit rating reports. “What we are doing is making it easier for a reader [of our reports] to find any credit-related ESG factors that are driving the credit rating,” said Nicole Martin, senior director, sustainable …
Investors’ Long Day’s Journey into Africa Investing Continues The approximately $11 billion Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) evidently was attentive and took careful notes as part of a delegation of investors that visited South Africa in the spring of 2017, and Senegal and South Africa one year later. The upshot: At its Jan.17 board meeting, …
Charles “Chuck” Burbridge is executive director of the approximately $11 billion Public School Teachers’ Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago (Chicago Teachers or CTPF). Boasting a 40-year-plus professional career in economics, finance and academia (he was twice an adjunct professor), Burbridge has witnessed myriad changes in pension fund administration and investment, lending him a clear-eyed perspective acquired only by long service. It’s the kind …
With a goal of hitting a 100% funding, the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System (SDCERS) has adopted a new unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) contribution floor amortization for the City of San Diego and the Port of San Diego pension plans. This new UAL contribution floor amortization method complements the existing 15-year amortization period for …
With stock market volatility currently high and trade war fears still in the air, consultants and asset managers are looking to 2019 as a year when corporate defined-benefit pension plans will need to review their risk assets, evaluate new investment strategies and focus more on matching their assets and liabilities. “Looking forward to 2019, we …
