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Industry News

• Karzai Family Ties Shielded Flailing Afghan Bank September 7, 2010
  KABUL, Afghanistan -- In early 2009, as President Hamid Karzai scanned the landscape for potential partners to run in his re-election bid, he was approached from an unusual corner: a bank. The president's brother, Mahmoud, and another Afghan businessman, Haseen Fahim, were shareholders in Kabul Bank, one of the freewheeling financial institutions that h […]
• Marshall Goldsmith: What Is the Truth About Leadership? (Part 1 of 2) September 7, 2010
  My good friends Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, best known for the classic, award-winning book, The Leadership Challenge , have written a new book called The Truth About Leadership . Recently I had the opportunity to catch up with Jim about his and Barry's new book. Following is part one of the fascinating discussion I had with Jim recently during a confer […]
• Health Insurer PacifiCare Faces Up To $9.9 Billion In Fines For Nearly A Million Alleged Health Care Violations September 7, 2010
  California regulators are seeking fines of up to $9.9 billion from health insurer PacifiCare over allegations that it repeatedly mismanaged medical claims, lost thousands of patient documents, failed to pay doctors what they were owed and ignored calls to fix the problems. In court filings and other documents, the California Department of Insurance says Paci […]
• Video: Citi’s Kurz Says Taiwan Listings to `Energize’ Market: Video September 7, 2010
  Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Peter Kurz, head of Taiwan research at Citigroup Inc., talks about the prospects for new listings of overseas and Taiwanese companies on the island. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd., the first Chinese-owned company to sell shares in Taiwan, rose on the first day of trading for its depositary receipts on the island’s stock exchang […]
• Internal contracts could solve accountability issues September 7, 2010
  Internal investment committees and teams should be given an investment management agreement by their boards, in order to define accountability, according to Russell Investments expert, Sorca Kelly-Scholte.   There have been many studies, discussions, debates and papers written about fund governance, but putting words into action seems to be a slow […]
• China’s growth not so lopsided but markets are September 7, 2010
  You get immune to rapid change in China, with the pace of development clearly visible all around. One wonders how long it will still be a considered a developing nation.  Importantly for institutional investors, the development points to a shift from reliance on exports to domestic demand-driven growth. Those who […]
• DiNapoli’s first snag at NY State fund as markets sour again September 7, 2010
  After three tumultuous years of reforms including a raft of new policies and procedures at the third-largest pension fund in the US, culminating in a 25.9 per cent return last year, Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State Comptroller, has hit a snag in the last quarter.The New York State Common […]
• NYSTRS defends defined benefit September 7, 2010
  The defined-benefit New York State Teachers’ Retirement System is defending its 8 per cent assumed rate of return at a time in the US when the limelight is focussed on pension fund structural issues.    According to a paper on NYSTRS’ website, recent studies have attempted to cast doubt on public […]
• SimCorp research focuses on pension fund best practice September 7, 2010
  SimCorp Strategy Lab, a private research institution, designed to challenge industry best-practice on issue relating to mitigating risk, reducing cost and enabling growth in the investment management industry, has set up four new sector-specific research groups including a separate group focused on pension funds.      With the groups set up so […]
• Dan Solin: The Wall Street Way September 7, 2010
  Here's an insight about Wall Street you probably won't get anywhere else: The creation of new investment products has nothing to do with investing. It's done primarily to separate you from your money. Sub-prime mortgages are the best example. Others include hedge funds of all stripes, structured products, money market funds that promise " […]