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This is not realistic in terms of how power works. When you have a wiz-bang asset allocator like Swensen (Yale) or Bronner (RSA), no one is going to have enoug

This is not realistic in terms of how power works. When you have a wiz-bang asset allocator like Swensen (Yale) or Bronner (RSA), no one is going to have enough political juice to put restraints on them, and even if they did, typical legislators/administrators are largely too ignorant of the process and fee structures to come up with restraints in the first place.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago
> legislators/administrators are largely too ignorant of the process and fee structures You're criticizing an article for bringing attention to something you claim cannot be changed because nobody pays attention to it?
- jstewartmobile 10y ago
  I'm criticizing it for being a non-issue compared to investment banking regulatory capture. No one is forced to put money in his hedge fund. If his fees are too high and his performance is too low, that's his investors' problem. Whereas with much of the banking industry, taxpayers are on the hook with little to no say in the matter.
  - eropple 10y ago
    > No one is forced to put money in his hedge fund. ...except the people represented by those "legislators and regulators" that you sneer at for being ignorant, and thus can be educated by articles like this. Your posts in this thread feel like libertarian position-staking more than anything coherent.
    - jstewartmobile 10y ago
      Haven't met many libertarians who complain about regulatory capture. My complaint is that this article is a distraction. People who deal with hedge funds (especially public pensions) are loaded with consultants, attorneys, and analysts. If they get hoodwinked, it is probably due to their own lack of due-dilligence. I think the effort would be better spent covering one of the many cases where ordinary people without consultants, attorneys, and analysts are in a "Heads We Win, Tails You Lose" situation.
      - eropple 10y ago
        That's fair; I withdraw the libertarian comparison and I apologize. But what's to say we can't pay attention to both at once? I feel like this is kind of a false economy.
        jstewartmobile 10y ago
        Any article crying boo-hoo for hedge fund investors is up to something. People who can invest in hedge funds are big boys who can look out for themselves. At the same time, there are so many bogus mainstream investment vehicles (like so many heavy-load, low-performance mutual funds that a lot of employees are stuck with because that's what their 401k offers), advertised in newspapers and television, that are far more deserving of media scrutiny. I can't help but suspect that part of the reason why they are not scrutinized is that they are well-paying advertisers. Ackermann is probably getting a colonoscopy here because he is not an advertiser.
wtvanhest 10y ago
Yale is a private institution, i am not familiar with RSA. I personally would like to reatrict all gov pension investments to passive, low fee only. The impact on actual dollars would average nationally to be positive. The impact on accountability would be absolutely amazing. The accountability would happen because everyone (all gov pensions) would have to assume similar future returns.
- mtanski 10y ago
  There's always fun stuff like this: http://dealbreaker.com/2016/12/cocaine-prostitutes-perks-new-york-pension/ http://dealbreaker.com/2016/12/cocaine-prostitutes-perks-new... "other than the obvious don’t-defraud-public-pensions one – is that if you’re going to accept recreational drugs and sex services from state contractors, be sure to properly disclose it all to the relevant authorities." Good words to live by. Provided an entertaining read on my morning commute on the MTA.

JumpCrisscross 10y ago

> legislators/administrators are largely too ignorant of the process and fee structures You're criticizing an article for bringing attention to something you claim cannot be changed because nobody pays attention to it?

jstewartmobile 10y ago
I'm criticizing it for being a non-issue compared to investment banking regulatory capture. No one is forced to put money in his hedge fund. If his fees are too high and his performance is too low, that's his investors' problem. Whereas with much of the banking industry, taxpayers are on the hook with little to no say in the matter.
- eropple 10y ago
  > No one is forced to put money in his hedge fund. ...except the people represented by those "legislators and regulators" that you sneer at for being ignorant, and thus can be educated by articles like this. Your posts in this thread feel like libertarian position-staking more than anything coherent.
  - jstewartmobile 10y ago
    Haven't met many libertarians who complain about regulatory capture. My complaint is that this article is a distraction. People who deal with hedge funds (especially public pensions) are loaded with consultants, attorneys, and analysts. If they get hoodwinked, it is probably due to their own lack of due-dilligence. I think the effort would be better spent covering one of the many cases where ordinary people without consultants, attorneys, and analysts are in a "Heads We Win, Tails You Lose" situation.
    - eropple 10y ago
      That's fair; I withdraw the libertarian comparison and I apologize. But what's to say we can't pay attention to both at once? I feel like this is kind of a false economy.
      - jstewartmobile 10y ago
        Any article crying boo-hoo for hedge fund investors is up to something. People who can invest in hedge funds are big boys who can look out for themselves. At the same time, there are so many bogus mainstream investment vehicles (like so many heavy-load, low-performance mutual funds that a lot of employees are stuck with because that's what their 401k offers), advertised in newspapers and television, that are far more deserving of media scrutiny. I can't help but suspect that part of the reason why they are not scrutinized is that they are well-paying advertisers. Ackermann is probably getting a colonoscopy here because he is not an advertiser.

wtvanhest 10y ago

Yale is a private institution, i am not familiar with RSA. I personally would like to reatrict all gov pension investments to passive, low fee only. The impact on actual dollars would average nationally to be positive. The impact on accountability would be absolutely amazing. The accountability would happen because everyone (all gov pensions) would have to assume similar future returns.

mtanski 10y ago
There's always fun stuff like this: http://dealbreaker.com/2016/12/cocaine-prostitutes-perks-new-york-pension/ http://dealbreaker.com/2016/12/cocaine-prostitutes-perks-new... "other than the obvious don’t-defraud-public-pensions one – is that if you’re going to accept recreational drugs and sex services from state contractors, be sure to properly disclose it all to the relevant authorities." Good words to live by. Provided an entertaining read on my morning commute on the MTA.