We are pleased to welcome you to the December 2009 edition of Mercer's investment consulting e-news update.

Building personal accounts - designing an investment approach

24 September 2009

The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA) discussion paper “Building personal accounts – designing an investment approach” provides a timely update on the defined contribution (DC) investment market along with an insight of where it could be heading. It is a must read for all current (and potential) DC trustees and sponsors, and others working in pensions.

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Canada: Moving forward with Responsible Investment

13 October 2009

Mercer takes a look at the state of Responsible Investment in Canada and discusses how current changes are mounting pressure on Canadian investors to integrate environmental, social and governance factors into their decision-making processes.

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Implemented consulting

26 November 2009

Many trustees recognise that managing the investment arrangements of a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme is a complex and onerous task. They have a finite amount of "governance", i.e. time, resources and expertise that they can deploy to manage pension schemes. Investment tools are also becoming increasingly complex and there is an ever-increasing demand on this governance budget.

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Insurance Linked Securities

28 October 2008

ILS refer to investments where insurance risk is transferred to a capital-market-based security, vehicle, or fund, separate from that of the insurance originator. ILS come in a number of forms, such as catastrophe bonds, life settlements, weather risk, industry loss warranty derivatives and other over-the-counter (OTC) securities.

What makes ILS an attractive alternative asset class and why in the current market environment is it getting more attention than usual?

Listen to Ryan Bisch, Mercer's ILS specialist as he discusses the investment opportunity.

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Investment media on demand

14 October 2009

Mercer is pleased to share a variety of media resources highlighting recent activities of Mercer's investment consulting business.

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Mercer's 2009 global DC survey results

5 October 2009

Mercer's investment resources

11 December 2009

Mercer’s investment consulting business has dedicated resources to investment topics in alternatives, responsible investment, investment operations, leading through unprecedented times, pension risk management, DC and DC connections.

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Microfinance - Effective diversification with social benefits?

13 October 2009

Mercer discusses the potential for investments in microfinance institutions to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns with low correlations to traditional assets and to provide much needed capital to individuals in emerging markets. Mercer is seeking indications of interest from investors who would like to receive a proposal to share the costs of further research with other investors.

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Private Debt Markets - A summary of the private debt investment opportunity

2 November 2009

The supply of credit will be constrained as banks continue to de-lever and other non-bank financial institutions remain shy of credit markets. However, as economies recover and businesses seek new funding and roll-over financing, private debt lending rates are moving into the low to high teens. With returns at these levels and underlying risk diminishing in line with improvements in the macro economy, investing in private debt becomes an attractive alternative investment.

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Recapitalization & recovery in the REIT market: Back to the 90's

2 November 2009

As we enter the third decade of the modern era of real estate investment funds (REITs), it appears that the REIT industry is in the beginning of a significant growth stage. Despite unprecedented volatility within the last 24 months, REITs have staged an impressive rebound in the face of widespread concern about their survivability. The industry has raised substantial new equity, albeit at the expense of diluting existing shareholders' value, and it is poised to capitalize on a period many believe will present the best investment opportunities seen in the past 20 years. Of course, for those who have followed REITs since the modern era began (generally considered the early 1990s), this may seem like a repeat performance. While it is still unclear how this REI rebound will ultimately play out, it is important to note that there are significant differences between this cycle and the REIT cycle of the 1990s.

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Responsible Investment and fixed income white paper

Available from September 2009

This paper provides an overview of issues related to the application of responsible investment (RI) approaches to management of fixed income portfolios. It also provides observations on current practices and best practice approaches to the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

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Shedding the light on responsible investment: Approaches, returns and impacts

Academic research continues to support the hypothesis that specific environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors can make a positive contribution to investment performance. This report summarizes and comments on sixteen academic studies—ten of which show a positive relationship between ESG factors and financial performance.

 View the free version of the report
  Learn more about purchasing the full report

Throughout most of the world, Mercer Investment Consulting is an autonomous unit within Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC). In the US, the investment consulting business is operated through Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Inc., the US operating unit of Mercer Human Resource Consulting LLC.