Odds & ends

A few things worth looking at...

CalPERS (the giant US public sector pension fund) says recent market turbluence won't affect contribution rates. Despite the Right's irrational hatred for them, I suspect funded public sector DB schemes could come out of all this looking good and demonstrating why DB is a good way of sharing and spreading risk over the long term. Too bad we've killed these schemes in the UK.

Also in the US, the NYC pension fund is looking into making local infrastructure investments. This seems like a really good idea - could we try something similar with our own funds?

This paper about the effects of leveraged buyouts on wages an employment is worth a read, though it basically says there aren't really any. The research was done by the Centre for Management Buyout Research, so they come with an agenda, but worth a read anyway. Hat-tip : Sandy

There's a good post from Paulie here.

And here's a paper from a few years back on behavioural biases at play in fund management.