New President Brings 17 years of Experience to the Position The retiring AFL-CIO ITC President Mike Stotz will be succeeded by Randy Kinder, formerly Sr. Vice President, who has been with AFL-CIO’s Investment Program for 17 years. Randy began with the Housing Investment Trust (HIT) in 2002 as a Program Manager on the HIT Home Initiative and has been responsible for executing strategic marketing campaigns for the AFL-CIOBuilding Investment Trust (BIT) and the AFL-CIO Equity Index Fund. Randy states, “I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of such an illustrious leader and brother, and I am committed to continue the work of growing the investment vehicles bearing the AFL-CIO’s name.” The ITC i
When we think of governments setting trends in the investing world, many might focus in on regulations or disclosure requirements. However, a more direct—and often just as potent—way for these institutions to influence the investing community is via government-linked pension and sovereign wealth funds. These massive pools of capital represent trillions of dollars and typically must take an extremely long view in order to help ensure adequate reserves decades down the road. This combination makes government-linked funds a powerful shareholder bloc that must be considered by corporate executives who want to maintain friendly shareholder relations. That is partially why any new developments in
The CalPERS’ board has approved the first step in the creation of a new private equity model, and now the fund’s CEO, Marcie Frost, is looking for advice on how to structure such an entity. The new venture will invest in two funds, one in late stage venture in healthcare, technology and life sciences; and one for long-term investments in established businesses. Over time the two funds will both invest around $10 billion each, with allocations coming from global equity and fixed income. The $362 billion CalPERS has an improved liquidity position partly due to a cash injection of $6 billion from former Governor Gerry Brown, and Frost said private equity was viewed as the best place to invest t
When Bob Hawke, the newly minted leader of the ALP, won the 1983 general election in a landslide, few workers had superannuation. But over the next nine years he, along with Treasurer Paul Keating, drove the introduction of a world class retirement income system – now worth $2.7 trillion – that has significantly improved the lifestyles of millions of Australian retirees. Perhaps surprisingly, Mr Hawke did not personally push directly for the introduction of super when he was President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions up to his election to Parliament in 1980. “Super had been on and off the agenda through the ’70s and early ’80s,” said Garry Weaven, former assistant secretary of the A
Board members selected Sharon Hendricks as Chair and Harry Keiley as Vice Chair WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 9, 2019) – The trustees of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System today elected Sharon Hendricks as board chair and Harry Keiley as vice chair for the 2019-20 term. The Teachers’ Retirement Board nominates and elects its chair and vice chair annually. The newly-elected officers assume their posts immediately. The chair and vice chair provide board leadership for the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. “I’m looking forward to the challenges and the opportunities we’ll be addressing this coming year, such as the implications of our transition to a low-carbon econo
The SVA has long supported worker buyouts in our three decades of saving The SVA has long supported worker buyouts in our three decades of saving jobs and business turnaround work. We’re seeing a new wave of worker ownership in American companies, a good thing. Organized worker ownership presents solutions to several problems that companies commonly face - including wealth inequality, lack of diversity, and lagging performance. True democratic worker-owned firms, including employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and co-ops, are owned by the same people who work in, run and own the business. The shared ownership model promotes economic stability and allows all types of workers to build wealth
Income inequality in the United States has not been this bad in almost a century—not since the end of the 1920s, just before the country crashed into the Great Depression.(1) Today, despite maintaining one of the highest per-capita national Gross Domestic Products worldwide, the United States also has one of the most unequal income distributions in the developed world.(2) Income gains for top earners in the United States have skyrocketed over the last several decades, far outpacing the modest gains seen by middle-wage and low-wage workers. While the top 1 percent wage has increased by 138 percent since 1979, the wages of the entire bottom 90 percent of earners have grown by the comparatively
The gap in wealth in the United States between the ultrawealthy and everyone else has reached its widest point in decades. One way to narrow the divide is through the use of worker buyouts, in which ownership of a company transfers from a single person or a small number of people to the workers of the company. Currently, about 10% of Americans hold equity stakes in their workplaces. By providing more workers and employees with opportunities to buy shares, companies can help workers and communities raise their standard of living and simultaneously feel more invested — literally — in the success of the enterprise. In that way, worker buyouts also increase firms’ competitiveness: Research sugge
Responsible (or Impact) investing has entered mainstream terminology for the millennial generation looking to make their mark on our planet. Creating entrepreneurial solutions, organizing communities, and doing business with companies exhibiting sustainable practices are paramount to garnering support of this demographic. In response to this movement, Heartland Capital Strategies and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor & the Working Poor at Georgetown University are thrilled to announce year 3 of the Labor Capital Strategies Fellowship. With the Class of 2019, the Fellowship continues to educate new generations of capital stewards and responsible investor creating a diverse pipeline for inv
When the trash collectors of the 1930s (then known as “scavengers”) formed cooperatives to organize their work, they did so to meet an immediate and pressing need for better jobs. Their intervention in the labor market was a crisis response to market gaps. But they also laid out a vision and a set of principles that pointed at a different way to organize economic activity. Cooperatives have always walked this line between practical and visionary. Market gaps change with the times, but employee ownership is once again being used to fill them. As job creation in our economy concentrates in the service sector, Americans increasingly find themselves working contractor gigs and patching together