Deals and People November 12, 2008

Former CalPERS CIO Launches New Venture

November 12, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The former Chief Investment Officer of the nation's largest public pension fund has launched a new venture.
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In announcing his departure from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) last April, former CIO Russell Read said he planned “to pursue his long-standing interest in environmental and cleantech investing” (see CalPERS CIO Announces Resignation ). The announcement of the formation of C Change Investments, LLC by its co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Russell Read, would appear to be the fulfillment of that objective.

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According to the announcement, the firm’s focus will be on “investments that address global challenges in natural resource consumption and energy demand, while protecting the environment.” C Change aims to “set itself apart from other investment companies by being an active technology development and scale-up partner to the venture capital community,” according to the firm.

Clean Energy Focus

“We intend to play a key role in identifying, developing and deploying innovative clean energy technologies, new construction techniques to conserve energy, and advanced materials as well as insightful strategies for managing renewable resources,” said Read in a press release.

C Change was co-founded by John Preston, the former director of MIT Technology Development and, according to the announcement, a recognized expert in technology commercialization. He is leading the firm’s efforts to source and develop an array of clean energy and natural resource technologies.

In focusing on the development through deployment of clean technologies, C Change management and advisors will rely on extensive ties with leading research institutions including MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley and Stanford. Strategic relationships have already been established with companies that are developing or deploying transformative technologies, according to the firm.

Collaboration Announced

It was also announced that one such relationship involves a collaboration between C Change, Bio Medical City, Inc of Korea and two Korean government agencies to develop what was described as a “first-of-a-kind ecologically sustainable Medical Science Green City” to be located within Sejong, which is to become the new administrative capital of Korea.

The Me Science Green City is expected to include a complex of world-class schools, medical facilities and leisure sports facilities. “The $3 billion project is part of a mammoth effort to build a highly efficient, near-zero carbon emission new capital to relocate Korea’s national government office buildings,” according to the announcement. C Change says it will play a “key role” in project financing and catalyzing clean technology, green building and biomedical technology transfers in the proposed complex.

“Our participation in this project brings to bear the firm’s capability in deploying clean technologies for what we hope will be a transformational city. It also highlights that we intend to be a global player,” said Read.

Further information regarding C Change Investments can be found atwww.cchangeinvestments.com

Benefits November 11, 2008

Lowering Employee Health Care Costs can Lower Business Costs

November 11, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Midwest Business Group on Health (MGBH) says value-based benefit design leads to healthier, more productive employees and lower long-term costs to employers.
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Value-Based Benefit Design entails reducing the cost of effective health care providers, services, procedures, treatments or drugs to encourage employees to do such things as take their prescribed regular medications or visit better performing, more efficient doctors and hospitals. The payoff comes in the form of healthier employees, with fewer tests, fewer complications from surgery and fewer hospital readmissions, the coalition said in a press release.

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To offset the lowered employee costs, employers can raise costs for lower quality, less effective providers, services, procedures, treatments or drugs.

Higher Cost Equals Higher Quality?

However, to implement this value-based benefit design, employers need to reframe employees’ perceptions of the health care marketplace. According to the press release, the findings of employee focus group research by MGBH indicate employees perceive higher quality health care equals higher cost.

In addition, the research found employees want choices in employer-sponsored benefit and wellness programs and are skeptical of employer efforts to steer them either toward or away from a particular program or provider.

MGBH says monetary incentives alone will not get employees to participate in value-based benefit design programs. Programs need to be combined with peer persuasion and management support to encourage both initial and ongoing participation, and employees need to see that incentives are in place because employers really do care about their health and that the incentives make sense.

MBGH has released a white paper on the focus group research, The Employees Readiness to Adopt Value-Based Benefit Design Strategies. The paper can be accessed from http://www.mbgh.org/index.php?t=initiatives/Readiness& .

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