Pensions & Investments – The pay-to-play private placement scandal was the top institutional investment story of the year, Pensions & Investments‘ editors say.
In a year in which the flood of big news never seemed to ease, the scandal that engulfed pension funds across the country — including the $201.1 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the $126 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund — led the pack in a poll of P&I editors.
As several placement agents were charged with getting kickbacks from money managers in return for getting them mandates from big pension funds, the whole manager hiring structure came under heavy scrutiny from regulators and legislators alike. The Securities and Exchange Commission even got involved.
