New government report is latest political football in Hedgistan
| Sep 11th, 2008 | Filed under: Hedge Fund Regulation, Today's Post | By: Alpha Male |
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A little over a year ago the International Trade Union Congress (ITUC) launched a blistering attack on hedge funds and private equity, calling them “termites” and referring to their strategies as “casino capitalism” in this report (see related post). Warned ITUC:
“The trustees and fiduciaries of pension funds must moreover consider investments in private equity and hedge funds very carefully. Due consideration should be given to the real profitability record of such investments, the risks associated with them, the many externalities they generate, and the direct or indirect impact they may have on the workplaces of the owners of the pension plans of tomorrow.”
But despite the brewing hostility toward alternative investments exemplified by this 2007 report, pension plans continued to invest over the past year.
Now the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has weighted in on the suitability of hedge funds and private equity for the nation’s public and private pension plans. Its report, like so many before it, has been met with skepticism from other government bodies – turning it into the latest proposal to be bounced around Washington like a fumbled football.
In the August report, the GAO warned:
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