| IN THE
March 9,
2009 ISSUE |
Stunned by Losses, Institutions Ask: What
Now?
Institutional investors saw the value of their investment
portfolios drop by an astonishing 31% in 2008, which has begged the
ongoing question of 2009: What now?
A new study by Greenwich Associates, a Stamford, Conn.-based consultant
and research firm, finds that when it comes to future real estate
investing, the news is good. Burned by the wild gyrations of publicly
traded stocks, most institutional investors are rightfully pulling back
from the equity markets. Less than half of institutions surveyed, 40%,
say they plan to make significant changes in their allocations, and 20%
of that group said they were planning to increase their investment in
real estate.
New Mega-Consultant Takes Shape
Two of America’s largest institutional investing
consulting firms — Mercer Inc. and Callan and Associates — are
formally merging later this month, and it could be the first significant
sign that consolidation among the many institutional advisors is now at
hand.
Mercer is a division of Marsh & McLennan Cos., a major New York-based
insurance firm. Callan, a 35-year-old firm based in San Francisco, is
one of the last major independent consulting firms still standing.
Callan’s 170 employees, including 50 researchers, will be combined
into Mercer’s 1,100-strong consulting business with 41 offices around
the world.
ING Clarion Enters Defined Contribution
Marketplace
Real estate investment advisor ING Clarion Partners LLC is
entering the defined contribution retirement markets to give plan
sponsors access to private real estate investments. Douglas DuMond has
joined the firm as a managing director to lead the new initiative.
ING Clarion Partners, one of the country’s largest managers of
institutional real estate assets, plans to launch a set of strategies
that will be available to ERISA-qualified defined contribution benefit
plans, defined benefit sponsors and managed asset allocation
programs.
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