The good news is that Rhode Island pensions are getting out of hedge funds. The bad is that some of the proceeds are going into private equity.
“In some cases, you’ve just seen the emperor has no clothes,” Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said in an interview.
Rhode Island in September decided to halve its hedge-fund investments, and it is redeeming from firms including Brevan Howard and Och-Ziff. It isn’t invested in York. The state plans to redeploy some of its hedge fund money into private equity.
High fees helped drive the decision. Mr. Magaziner said more than half the state’s gross returns from hedge funds was lost to fees and expenses over the three years that ended June 30. The pension’s costs of investing in other fund types relative to their returns were nowhere near as high, he said.
Mr. Dinan is taking steps to retrench at York, where assets under management have slumped to $17 billion this year, down 35% from $26 billion last year.
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