Pension fund investment to substantially return to Asia

As part of a general return of US capital to Asia after a withdrawal after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, Calpers, one of the largest pension funds in the United States, is said to be close to making a substantial investment in Asian hedge funds.

Calpers is the $181 billion pension fund that manages money for the California Public Employees Retirement System.

It announced last November that it was considering investing, as a start, $500 million dollars in funds of hedge funds, which invest in other hedge funds, in order to raise its total hedge funds investment from $850 million to $2 billion.

How much of the $500 million would be spent on Asian investments has not been revealed. No decisions have been announced, but the expectation is that Calpers will choose one Asian fund provider to work with initially.

It is believed that staff of Calpers interviewed several funds of hedge funds when staff was recently in Asia to look at possible investment opportunities there.

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