The Weekly Wrap: July 20 edition

Korean pension fund blasted for hiring 'unqualified' CIO

 Ignites Asia: South Korea’s second-largest pension fund has appointed a chief investment officer who does not have any experience in asset management, prompting criticism from trade unions. Dae-seon Yoo worked in the radio and broadcasting industry before being selected to manage the W100tn (£67.6bn) Korea Post fund, according to the Korea Times. The fund said it did not need a CIO with investment expertise because “we know we are not good at fund management” and would outsource its allocations to asset managers.

TPR points finger of blame at DWP

 FTAdviser: The Pensions Regulator’s non-executive chair has said delays at the Department for Work and Pensions are hampering its efforts to find a replacement for outgoing chief executive Lesley Titcomb. Mark Boyle told MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee he had not yet received formal approval to advertise the role from the DWP. Titcomb announced her resignation in May and will leave the regulator in February. Boyle said a headhunter had been appointed and hoped to obtain approval before the parliamentary recess.

Gars team hits out at media coverage of outflows

 Ignites Europe: Aberdeen Standard Investments has hit out at criticisms of its struggling Global Absolute Return Strategy, and said it wants to “give two fingers to sniping” in the press. According to Portfolio Adviser, the Gars team gave a presentation where they lamented the media attention paid to the fund’s outflows. The fund now manages €27.3bn (£24.3bn) in assets across its UK-based and Sicav versions, down from €37bn in July 2015. The fund has also delivered disappointing performance, losing 5.9 per cent over three years compared with an average positive return of 4.5 per cent for its peer group.

Former NY pension exec bribed with drugs and prostitutes gets 21 months

 Fundfire: A former head of portfolio strategy at the New York State Common Retirement Fund has been sentenced to 21 months in prison, Reuters has reported, after pleading guilty to giving business to two brokerages businesses in exchange for bribes. Thirty-nine-year-old Navnoor Kang was bought drugs and prostitutes, and tearfully apologised for his actions. He was also ordered to pay back $78,716 (£60,668) in ill-gotten gains and to pay restitution of $242,724 to the pension fund.

Toys R Us workers press investors for hardship fund

 FT: Private equity firms are considering establishing a hardship fund to compensate Toys R Us workers who lost their jobs when the heavily leveraged retailer collapsed, after US pension funds announced they were reconsidering their allocations. Former employees are in conversation with KKR and Bain over potential financial support for those hardest hit, given their involvement with a buyout that loaded the company with more than $5bn (£3.9bn) of debt. However, the third equal partner in the deal, Vornado Realty Trust, is refusing to answer the workers’ emails.

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Tweet of the week

Well he obviously misspoke. What he meant to say was 'we should be in doubt...' https://t.co/xIrQSopAhX

— Mark Locke (@langcatlocke) July 18, 2018