GLG News by Private Equity Valuation Specialists

1. Liability-driven investing has another cost in the form of higher short-term rates. 2. LIBOR has been moving away from the Fed. Funds rate. 3. Central bankers may have a tougher time keeping market volatility in check. That adversely impacts pension plan financial health.

1. Understanding a plan sponsor's investment risk exposure is necessary but not sufficient. 2. Plan participants, corporate investors and lenders all need to know whether pension investment risk could create financial problems. 3. There is limited information currently available. A move by FASB to require...

1. Service providers who do not consider their implicit or explicit fiduciary status vis-a-vis public or corporate pension plans could find themselves in the litigation cross hairs. 2. Pension litigation is skyrocketing with fiduciary breach allegations leading the way.

1. Quantitative investing could worsen market volatility. 2. Fiduciaries have a responsibility to assess trading risks. Automated trading strategies could make it more difficult to carry out their duties. 3. Some banks and hedge funds are experiencing losses due to "quant" trading.

1. Proper valuation (and related risk management) cannot ignore model risk. 2. Model risk, or "model error" means different things to different people. 3. Complex models require an understanding of the dynamic behavior of input variables such as default or recovery rates.

1. Plan sponsors are responsible for prudent investment decision-making. 2. There is concern that some plan sponsors may not be doing enough to vet credit risk and the quality of supporting collateral.

1. Valuation drives a plethora of urgent financial activities - risk management, re-balancing, fee assessment and strategic asset allocation. 2. Bad valuation numbers lead to bad decisions. 3. Institutional investors and their service providers are likely to find themselves struggling to justify their...

PENSION TENSION BLUES will make you laugh and cry at the same time. It draws serious attention to the pension crisis.

1. Someone has to clearly "own" the valuation process check responsibility or pension fiduciaries could be exposed to tremendous liability for poor decision-making. 2. Smoothing makes it difficult, perhaps impossible, to gauge a hedge fund's risk and return profile. 3. Pension funds critically depend...

1. Increasingly, pension-related lawsuits allege fiduciary breach. 2. Pension decisions are fast migrating to the C-level and boardroom. Questions about fiduciary liability abound. 3. How much information is minimally required to discharge proper fiduciary responsibilities? 4. What is the boundary between...