With the initial chaos of the COVID-19 market dislocation behind us but uncertainty still ahead, now is the time to refocus and potentially recalibrate core tenets of pension plan management. Through their work with clients, our pension investment professionals have found that sponsors – particularly single employer plans – generally share four common challenges: liquidity, rebalancing, investment implementation, and communication.
In this video series, three of our pension investment leaders discuss these issues and share their observations and recommendations on how to successfully address these challenges, both today and in future periods of uncertainty.
The Importance of Liquidity
Brian McDonnell
Global Head of Pension Practice
Alex Pekker
Investment Managing Director, Pension Practice
Click on the photo for the speaker's bio
Head of North American Pensions
Sona Menon is the Head of Cambridge Associate’s North American Pension Practice. Based in Boston, she also serves as an Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) for a diverse group of pension clients. Sona has been with Cambridge Associates since 2001 and brings nearly 23 years of investment industry experience to her clients.
Sona works with a variety of institutional investors that include corporate, public, multiemployer, and non-profit plan sponsors; health care institutions; and other investors with multi-asset pools. As an OCIO, Sona serves in both fully discretionary and non-discretionary capacities, overseeing plans’ investment portfolios. Sona has authored and contributed to several research papers on key investment topics impacting the North American pension industry and regularly speaks at industry conferences.
Sona began her tenure at Cambridge Associates building endowment portfolios. Prior to her senior roles in the Pension Practice, Sona spent over two years working in Cambridge Associates’ London office, where she served institutional investors located in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and the Middle East. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at JP Morgan in the sovereign risk research department, as well as on the emerging markets sales and foreign exchange trading desks.
Alex Pekker
Investments Managing Director, Pensions
Alexander Pekker is a Managing Director at Cambridge Associates, specializing in asset allocation, investment strategy design, risk management, asset/liability analysis, and fixed income portfolio construction. Alex joined Cambridge Associates in 2016 and has over a decade of investment experience working with retirement plans, healthcare institutions, and insurance companies.
A key contributor to pension investment strategy research, he authored papers on corporate and multiemployer pension strategy, liability-hedging portfolio design and implementation, and fixed income management. His research appears in industry publications, and he presents at conferences hosted by the Society of Actuaries, P&I and others.
Prior to joining Cambridge Associates, Alex was the Director of Quantitative Strategies at Sage Advisory Services, where he led the quantitative strategies group in developing customized investment solutions for institutional investors. Prior to Sage, he worked at Wilshire Associates in fixed income analytics and at Mercer in actuarial consulting.
Brian McDonnell
Global Head of Pensions
Brian is the Global Head of Cambridge Associates’ Pension Practice and has more than 15 years of investment experience. He joined Cambridge Associates in 2008 and 2008 and oversees the firm’s work with more than 150 plan sponsors globally, including public, multiemployer, and non-profit plan sponsors; healthcare institutions; and other institutional investors with multi-asset pools. Brian also works directly with clients, managing portfolios on their behalf and serving as an extension to plan sponsors’ in-house investment teams.
Brian is a regular speaker at global industry events, including for organizations such as Pension Bridge, Institutional Investor, the National Associations of Corporate Treasurers, and the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Plan Assets (CIEBA). He has contributed to several Cambridge Associates publications on strategic pension plan management, including ABalancing Act: Strategies for Financial Executives in Managing Pension Risk.
Before joining Cambridge Associates, Brian was a Senior Associate at Parthenon Capital, a middle-market market private equity firm in Boston. Prior to this, he covered the transportation industry as an Investment Banking Analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York City.
Video Series
Series Intro: Navigating Pensions through Market Crises
Brian McDonnell, Global Head of Cambridge Associates' Pension Practice, summarizes the four key challenges faced by plan sponsors during times of market crises.
The Importance of Liquidity
Alex Pekker, Investment Managing Director, discusses how plan sponsors should approach liquidity management, its importance to overall pension risk management, and the steps needed to ensure you have sufficient liquidity in times of market stress.
The Keys to Effective Rebalancing
Sona Menon, North American Head of Cambridge Associates' Pension Practice, examines rebalancing, including the investment and enterprise factors to consider and how a well-executed rebalancing plan can serve as a strong foundation for future offense.
Implementation of Investment Decisions
Sona explores best practices for the timely execution of rebalancing and the importance of pre-defined governance processes for implementing investment decisions during periods of market volatility.
Communication and the Big Picture
Brian explains why organizational communication is essential during times of crisis and concludes the video series by highlighting the importance of pre-defined strategies when navigating these investment and management issues.
LIQUIDITY
Sona Menon
ALEX PEKKER
with
Jump to videos
Sona Menon
North American Head of Pension Practice
Click on a tile to view the video
OCTOBER 2020
COMMUNICATION
Communication and the Big Picture
IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation of Investment Decisions
sona menon
with
REBALANCING
SONA MENON
with
The Keys to Effective Rebalancing
BRIAN MCDONNELL
with
Navigating Pensions through Market Crises
INTRODUCTION
BRIAN MCDONNELL
with
Featured Speakers
View Research Paper
Speak with Us
Read Navigating Market Crises: Insights and Recommendations for US Plan Sponsors, authored by Sona Menon and Alex Pekker, or contact us to discuss your plans' specific needs.
Interested in Learning More?
Pension Video Series
Back to videos
Navigating Market Crises
