Pension fund returns will only get worse in alternative assets
Pension fund returns will only get worse in alternative assets


As the pension crisis continues, data points are showing that the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the already weak position many funds were in as far as returns. Pension funds have been trending toward alternative assets over stocks in recent years.
Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Pension funds supposedly chasing returns
Although pension fund managers have argued that they're chasing returns through their shift toward alternative assets, the numbers show that the strategy just isn't working. One expert explained to ValueWalk why this is happening and what could have been done to prevent the pension crisis in the first place.
Robert Zuccaro of the Golden Eagle Growth Fund has a strong track record from his pension fund management days. He is the only pension fund manager to rank number one in the INDATA universe among some 6,000 funds in two different years.
Zuccaro managed the Monsanto fund, which returned 40.1% in 1979 and the LA Fire and Police Pension Fund, which returned 79.2% in 1992. He told ValueWalk in a recent interview that the pension crisis is self-inflicted.
"The whole problem is self-induced and connected with conventional wisdom that holds stocks and fixed income securities should balance each other out in retirement plans," he said. "Alternative assets are a crazy idea to boost returns because there is little historic data that goes back to 1926 like we have for stocks."
Why alternative assets are a "crazy idea" for pension funds
Zuccaro noted that alternative asset returns have lagged stock market returns as measured by the S&P 500 for years, which makes them a poor choice for pension funds.
"A real-world example is the Harvard endowment with its cadre of portfolio managers running hedge funds," he explained. "In 2005, their assets were $26 billion and are now $40 billion. If they simply had their assets invested in the S&P 500 since 2005, the endowment would have grown to $90 billion."
Zuccaro argued in his 1982 paper entitled "The Real Risk is to Not Invest in Stocks" that since pension funds are perpetual entities, they should hold a much higher allocation to stocks. He said that stocks are safe if they are held for a very long time like 10 years. He believes if his advice in 1982 had been heeded, pension plans might be a lot closer to being full funded today.
Underfunding will only grow from here, and cutbacks are a certainty
Zuccaro pointed out that the average public pension fund uses a 7.75% return assumption. He also noted that government bonds are now yielding 0.64%, while T-bills are yielding 0.16%.
"It will take hundreds of years to double money at these rates," he said. "Averaging current yields for fixed-income investments, say at one-half percent with a 10% historic return for stocks, at most given the 13.6% annualized past 10-year return, which history tells us that stock returns will be less than 10% going forward, hinders every plan in reaching their actuarial goal. This means that underfunding is guaranteed to grow! At some point benefits will need to be cut back; make no mistake about this."
The post Pension fund returns will only get worse in alternative assets appeared first on ValueWalk.
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Bitcoin price must break $31K to avoid 2023 ‘bearish fractal’
BTC price needs to recoup some more key levels before ditching longer-term bearish risk, the latest Bitcoin analysis says.
Bitcoin…

BTC price needs to recoup some more key levels before ditching longer-term bearish risk, the latest Bitcoin analysis says.
Bitcoin (BTC) held above $30,000 at the Oct. 23 Wall Street open as analysis said BTC price strength could cancel its “bearish fractal.”

BTC price preserves majority of early upside
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it hovered near $30,700, still up 2.5% on Oct. 23.
The largest cryptocurrency made snap gains after the Oct. 22 weekly close, stopping just shy of $31,000 in what became its highest levels since July.
Now, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital is keen to see the $31,000 level break.
“Bitcoin has Weekly Closed above the Lower High resistance to confirm the breakout,” he commented alongside the weekly chart.

Rekt Capital argued that BTC/USD could disregard the bearish chart fractal in play throughout 2023 next. This had involved the two year-to-date highs near $32,000 forming a doubletop formation, with downside due as a result.
Specifically, Bitcoin requires a “breach” of $31,000 in order to do so.
#BTC
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) October 23, 2023
Is Bitcoin on the cusp of invalidating the Bearish Fractal?
Here are the Bearish Fractal Invalidation Criteria:
a) Bull Market Support Band holds as support ✅
b) Weekly Close beyond Lower High resistance ✅
c) Breach of $31k yearly highs ❌$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/4H3OMiDzFB pic.twitter.com/mjoO8OF1Qs
More encouraging cues came from the True Market Deviation indicator from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode.
As noted by its lead analyst, Checkmate, on Oct. 23, the metric, also known as the Average Active Investor (AVIV) profit ratio, has crossed a key level.
Bitcoin’s True Mean Market price (TMM) — the level that BTC/USD spends exactly 50% above or below — is now below its spot price, at $29,780.
“Have we now paid our bear market dues?” Checkmate queried, describing TMM as Bitcoin’s “most accurate cost basis model.”

Institutions awaken in “Uptober"
Analyzing the potential drivers of the rally, meanwhile, James Van Straten, research and data analyst at crypto insights firm CryptoSlate, flagged the potential approval of the United States’ first Bitcoin spot-price-based exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Related: BTC price nears 2023 highs — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
While not yet awarded the green light, a U.S. spot ETF is being treated as an inevitability after legal battles resulted in regulators losing sway.
“The potential approval of a spot ETF for Bitcoin has spurred a significant increase in bullish inflows in the crypto market,” Van Straten wrote in an update published on Oct. 23.
He noted that Glassnode data shows inflows via over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks spiking since late September.
“In addition, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, with its holdings of approximately 25,000 Bitcoin, has observed consistent inflow throughout the past month. Even though these inflows might not be termed as ‘large,’ they denote a positive market sentiment,” he continued.
“This uptick in inflows across various platforms indicates an optimistic market response to the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF, bolstering the overall landscape of digital assets.”

The largest Bitcoin institutional investment vehicle, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), continues to see a lower discount to the Bitcoin spot price, having already seen its smallest negative margin since December 2021.
This stood at -13.12% as of Oct. 23, per data from monitoring resource CoinGlass.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
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