Finance sites

A great piece on a Greensboro TV that presents the fee and hidden fee issues facing the state pension fund in very clear terms.

Depends who you ask - but  Josh Brown offers a range of explanations  based on media outlet. A snippet: Wall Street Journal: Tensions in Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula Yahoo Finance: Russians Fox Business: Obamacare CNBC: It didn’t sell off at all, it was actually a reverse rally Forbes: Taxes are too high Huffington Post: Taxes are too low Fox News: Gay marriage Motley Fool: Sign up here to find out!

A big move up in the US News and World Report rankings. Details on Steve Allen's blog .

... said Apple CEO Tim Cook. First I find it amusing that the word "bloody" - a great staple of the English language in its native country  - is making its way into the mainstream lexicon in the USA.  But for it to be really effective, I recommend combining it with "hell" from time to time. But back to Mr. Cook.  Mr Cook was being questioned on the Apple's CSR (corporate social responsibility) policies by a conservative "think tank" (the National Center for Public Policy Research ).  Mr Cook didn't appreciate the line of questioning - hence the money quote in the title of this blog post. I think Aswath Damodaran frames the issue quite well .  There is plenty of evidence that CSR policies can create shareholder value when conducted in a careful and thoughtful manner.  But responding as he did, Mr Cook gave the NCPPR a great sound bite that ends up making Apple look bad.  That said, the alternative reality that the NCPPR occupies is so devoid of any ...

Today, the Charlotte Observer tried to sort out the debate on the level of fees paid by the NC Pension Fund to hedge fund managers . The debate has evolved into what fees do Fund of Fund managers pay the managers of the hedge funds that they hire?   Ted Siedle, the consultant hired by SEANC argues that these fees are massive and greatly underreported by the pension fund .   The pension fund ( and Andy Silton ) argue that Siedle's estimates are overblown. I think we're missing the point here.  So let me recap.  Until a couple of years ago, nobody cared about the fees being paid by the Pension Fund.   Then, during the Treasurer's reelection campaign, one of her opponents starting raising the issue.    Since then a few vocal critics have continued to argue that the pension fund pays too much in fees and doesn't disclose the fees adequately.  SEANC realized that this was an issue of importance to its members and hired Ted Siedle to look into the matt...

A really great write up of our MBA program.   If you are thinking of getting your MBA or know someone who is, you need to read this. HT: My colleague Steve .

The answer is hard to figure out.  While the pension fund will disclose (reluctantly) the fees paid directly to managers - in many cases those managers hire other managers who in turn charge another layer of fees.   This practice is common and indeed the norm in the hedge fund industry where investors contract with "fund of funds" managers. So how much are these hidden fees?   According to the Treasurer's office fees paid to Franklin Street Partners (an alternative investments manager) by the pension fund were around $2.6 million.  But an ongoing SEANC audit reveals that when fees to the funds managed by Franklin Street partners are accounted for, this total fee bill is $16 million.   And this is just one manager. A more detailed discussion appeared on Forbes.   And a brief summary of the problem was discussed on WRAL news . Apparently Franklin Street states they aren't doing anything wrong and this is normal industry practice.  I am sure they are co...