The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Joy: Investment committees resist firing managers with stellar trailing returns
“I think, and history's shown me, that it's very hard to get an investment committee to agree to firing a manager when their performance is stellar, or to not re-up With a manager when they've got absolutely shoot the lights out numbers, but in our view, they'v…”
Joy: Divestment versus engagement is a false dichotomy in responsible investing
“So, I mean, I guess the first thing on divestment versus engagement, people often are in one camp or the other, and I would say it's a false dichotomy. You need both, because I think engagement without the ultimate threat of divestment is a very blunt instrume…”
Joy: Pure oil and gas companies face existential stranded asset risk
“We really sort of feel that pure EMP, or pure oil and gas companies, face ultimately an existential threat, and actually you arguably would probably want to divest from them for financial reasons. Now, of course, if you look at the last year or so, they've don…”
Joy: Fixed return targets force allocators into excessive risk during downturns
“And if you've got a set target, and return prospects are not so good, by definition, you have to increase risk. Just what I think is the counterintuitive and worst time when you want to be Reducing risk.”
Joy: Aggregate hedge fund industry does not justify its fees
“If I was to talk generically about the hedge fund industry, I would say that probably on balance,
At an aggregate level, that industry doesn't justify its fees or its role in the portfolio, because on a net of fee basis, it's really not going to give clients …”
Joy lets manager access dictate Church Commissioners' venture capital allocation
“So I don't target a VC allocation. I target VC managers, and I will take what I can get from the managers that I'm targeting. We have a very concentrated book of managers, and our allocation, if you like, is what drops out of the access we can get with the man…”
Joy: PE and VC are governed by the same economic drivers as public equities
“PE and VC ultimately is still equity. It's investments in companies. They're going to be determined by the same economic drivers as public equities.”
Joy: Commercial real estate acts like equity and undercompensates for illiquidity
“I think commercial real estate is closer to equity than sometimes people really realize. So we sold out, when I first arrived, we used to have quite a big allocation to commercial real estate, and I thought, well, why have we got this? It's illiquid. I don't t…”
Joy: Peer group benchmarking destroyed the UK defined benefit pension industry
“I would say peer group benchmarking. I think that is just wrong on so many levels. Thankfully, I'm not subject to it, but I think it, you know, destroyed the UK defined benefit pension scheme. And that whole industry is just so problematical on so many levels.…”
Joy: Starting in fixed income is probably the best foundation for investing
“I actually think starting out in fixed income is probably the best place to start if you're going to have a successful career in investments. It really sort of grounds you, makes you sort of really understand the sort of Charlie Ellis winning by not losing Man…”
Joy: Church Commissioners team controls manager firing and re-ups without IC approval
“The different subgroups below the IC, one that focuses on all assets, excluding real assets, and one that is really a real assets group, they determine or approve new partnerships. So if I'm bringing partners in, new managers, external managers, I get them app…”
Joy: Tactical asset allocation should only be used during market extremes
“Tactical asset allocation in particular is something that's episodic, and you really want to be utilizing it when the elastic is stretched very tight.”
Joy: Asset size is a real hindrance to active fund performance
“I mean, size is a real hindrance to performance.”
Joy: Telling external asset managers how to manage portfolios causes disaster
“You know, the last thing we would ever do is try to tell a third party manager how to manage their portfolio. That is certain recipe for disaster. And all of the good managers would say no, obviously.”
Joy: Fear of missing out is the most dangerous thing for an investor
“I think that the best thing an investor can have is lack of FOMO. I think FOMO is the most dangerous thing an investor.”
Church Commissioners holds at least two years of unencumbered cash
“We always hold at least two years worth of unencumbered cash from a distribution perspective, net of the income we're going to get.”
Joy: Church Commissioners allocates 40% to public equities, including 8% defensive long/short
“Roughly speaking, 40% of our fund is in public equities. Of that, roughly, 32% is in traditional public equities, and about eight percent is in In long short, what we label defensive equity.”
Joy: Church Commissioners holds 13% to 14% in private equity, split evenly between buyout and VC
“So we've been in private equity investing since the mid-nineteen nineties. It's roughly about 13 to 14% of our overall book, which is a sizable amount, but it's not nearly as big as some other investors have. I'm happy with that. It's roughly split equal betwe…”