Administration March 21, 2014

CalPERS Allocates More to Emerging Manager Program

March 21, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) will allocate additional money to its emerging manager program in the private equity asset class, using a new fund-of-funds to deploy the capital.
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“This new $200 million allocation is a reflection of CalPERS ongoing commitment to emerging and diverse managers,” says Ted Eliopoulos, CalPERS’ interim chief investment officer, based in Sacramento, California. “Our goal is to generate appropriate, risk-adjusted investment returns by identifying early stage funds with strong potential for success.”

The new allocation will be deployed over four years and is in addition to a $100 million commitment made in 2012. The selection of a manager to head the fund-of-funds will be completed by CalPERS investment staff later in the year.

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CalPERS has been investing with emerging managers directly and through fund-of-funds for more than 20 years. In 2012, CalPERS adopted its “Emerging Manager Five-Year Plan: Pathway to the Future,” which provides a strategic framework to guide CalPERS investments and engagement with emerging investment managers.

According to CalPERS, this new total fund approach to emerging manager programs is designed to engage with the emerging manager stakeholder community, strengthen relationships with emerging managers, and improve implementation of emerging manager investment strategies.

CalPERS has nearly $12 billion invested with 395 emerging managers across all of its emerging manager programs. More information is available about the CalPERS emerging manager programs and its five-year plan.

Benefits March 21, 2014

March Madness Not the Only Thing Workers Bet On

March 21, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The annual NCAA Basketball tournament (a.k.a., March Madness) is underway and many U.S. employees are filling out brackets and competing for accuracy.
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A CareerBuilder survey finds one in five (19%) employees say they have participated in a March Madness office pool in the past, while 11% say they plan to do so this year.

When comparing job levels, directors, managers and team leaders were the most likely to report placing a friendly wager at work, with 24% participating in March Madness pools. Entry-level and administrative/clerical workers were the least likely at 14%.

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One-third (33%) of employees who earn six figures or more said they have participated in office pools for the tournament, compared with 18% of those who earn less than $100,000 annually. Twenty-five percent of workers who earn $50,000 or more annually have placed their bets, compared with 14% of those who earn less than $50,000.

Employees who specialize in number crunching and driving revenue were among those most likely to have joined in bracket challenges at work. Top industries included financial services (31%); sales (30%); IT (29%); professional and business services (25%); leisure and hospitality (22%); manufacturing (20%); and health care, with more than 50 employees (17%).

Men have shown a greater likelihood to place a March Madness wager at work. Twenty-six percent of men have participated in March Madness office pools, which is double the percentage of women (13%).

While employees of all ages place bets around the tournament, NCAA office pools are particularly popular among younger employees. Twenty-two percent of employees ages 25 to 34 have participated in pools at work in the past, and 16% plan to do so this year, the highest of any age group.

Broken down by region, March Madness bets have been more common in the Northeast and Midwest, where 23% and 22% of workers, respectively, have taken part in an office pool. They are followed by the South (19%) and West (15%).

CareerBuilder also finds for some offices, the NCAA tournament is not the only opportunity to make friendly wagers. Some of the more unusual office pools include:

  • Who could raise the best-looking Chia Pet;
  • When a coworker would be fired;
  • How long the boss’s marriage would last;
  • How many times the boss would call a female direct report “girl” in one day;
  • When a coworker would change his shirt, which he wore for 11 consecutive days;
  • How much time someone would get when convicted of a crime;
  • How many electoral votes the presidential candidates would receive;
  • How many times the plant manager coughed during a meeting;
  • The birth date of Prince William and Duchess Kate’s baby; and
  • How many pages were in a patient’s medical record chart.

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll, on behalf of CareerBuilder, from November 6 to December 2, 2013. It included a representative sample of 3,008 full-time, private sector workers across industries and company sizes in the United States.

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