News Articles

Mar 2023 | Managing Special Financial Assistance Assets

Managing Senior Consultant, Brian Bruzda, CFA examines the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program of the American Rescue Plan Act. The SFA program affords troubled multiemployer pension plans an opportunity to significantly improve their health. The article reviews the rules on permitted investments, examines various portfolio allocation policy alternatives, and offers considerations for plan trustees.*

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Jan 2022 | Evercore Private Funds Group State of the Market

Director of Research, Colin Murfit, CFA contrasts the use of open-end and closed-end fund structures in private debt investments, drawing upon comparisons to the real estate and infrastructure markets, and suggests that corporate private debt managers focused on senior direct lending strategies would be well served to consider adopting the open-end fund structure within their product line-ups.

Jan 2022 | PE Wire Global Outlook

Director of Research, Colin Murfit, CFA highlights alternative methods for liquidity generation for private equity limited partners, the importance of company-level data in the due diligence process, and shares some of our criteria in general partner selection.

Oct 2021 | Selecting and Monitoring an OCIO

Executive Vice President, Asad Ali and co-author Douglas Lash of of Barlow Coughran Morales & Josephson examine the rationale for delegating investment oversight to an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) and how that decision can differ for each employee benefit plan. Plan sponsors have a fiduciary duty to prudently select and properly monitor OCIOs. This article discusses the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) considerations when deciding whether to hire an OCIO and outlines fiduciary duties when selecting and monitoring an outsourcing provider.**

Apr 2021 | TIDE Ten featuring Lily Tu & Ralph Goldsticker

Chief Investment Officer, Ralph Goldsticker, CFA interviewed by Lily Tu of Sage Advisory discuss manager selection. (video)

Feb 2021 | Chasing Performance Interview with LinkBridge

Chief Investment Officer, Ralph Goldsticker, CFA interviewed by Pablo Patrick, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, LinkBridge Investors discuss the roles of asset managers and asset allocators, performance chasing, and the decision-making process. (video)

Oct 2020 | Chasing Performance

Chief Investment Officer, Ralph Goldsticker, CFA suggests despite the pervasiveness of the “past performance is no guarantee of future results” disclaimer and decades of research that supports it, many investors often behave as though past performance does predict the future. As a result, they allow recent performance to shape their expectations of future asset class returns and make a similar error when evaluating active investment managers. This article is intended to help investors to recognize their own performance-chasing behavior and presents evidence that shows the lack of a predictable relationship between past performance and future results.***

Aug 2020 | OCIO Considerations

Executive Vice President, Asad Ali and co-author Kenny Kelley of Ryan Rapp Underwood and Pacheco examine how investment outsourcing has been increasing rapidly over the past decade as plan sponsors seek a solution to better manage risk and enhance their investment approach. Investment outsourcing is the method by which plan sponsors (or other large asset owners) shift portfolio management activities to a third party that assumes fiduciary responsibility and operates with either partial or full discretion. To do this, many plan sponsors hire an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO). An OCIO is an advisory organization that provides plan sponsors the ability to delegate investment authority by shifting responsibility for some or all investment functions.**

Sep 2019 | Rise of the Defined Contribution Trustee

Executive Vice President, Asad Ali and co-author Jason Fuiman of O'Dwyer and Bernstien LLP demonstrate that as defined contribution plans become the primary source of retirement income for a growing number of plan participants, DC plan trustees must recognize their responsibilities in helping participants meet their retirement savings goals.**

Jun 2018 | Commentary: Up-market capture minus down-market capture

Chief Investment Officer, Ralph Goldsticker, CFA explains how it is appropriate to prefer strategies that fully participate in up markets, and that provide protection in down markets, and investors frequently employ up-market capture ratio vs. down-market capture ratio to evaluate investment strategies. However, because of the way statistics are calculated, comparing a strategy's up-market capture to its down-market capture provides little, if any, information beyond knowing that the strategy outperformed its benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis.

** Reproduced with permission from Benefits Magazine, Volume 60 No.2, March/April 2023, pages 14-20, published by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (www.ifebp.org), Brookfield, Wisconsin. All rights reserved. Statements or opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the International Foundation, its officers, directors or staff. No further transmission or electronic distribution of this material is permitted.

** Reproduced with permission from Benefits Magazine, published by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (www.ifebp.org), Brookfield, Wisconsin. All rights reserved. Statements or opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of the International Foundation, its officers, directors or staff. No further transmission or electronic distribution of this material is permitted.