Pension Risk Matters : Pension Risk News & Analysis : Investment Governance, Inc. : Pension Risk & Investment

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In a recent interview, Mr. Stanley Goldstein announced the creation of an industry watchdog group, led by the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable. Its goal is to self-enforce otherwise voluntary and "weak" hedge fund practices. (As I wrote in "Doris Day, Scarlett O'Hara and Financial Market Tumult," July 19, 2008, a July 17, 2008 Financial Times editorial refers to such guidelines as cosmetic, meant to attract institutional investors and to keep regulators at bay.)

Goldstein, a CPA and founder of several hedge funds, explains that the aim is "not to start a separate organization but to use the existing one to compile and disseminate standards for hedge funds to follow," adding that "We do not see enforcement as practical or desirable but rather, hope that 'industry usage' will evolve along the lines which we, and others like us, deem appropriate."

Goldstein's support of the free market to act as the ultimate enforcer is laudable, especially at a time when global regulators are far from silent about the need for more stringent rules. Will Adam Smith's "invisible hand" really work? Let's hope so. As this blogger as written many times before, regulations no doubt change the way market participants behave, often leading to the "Law of Unintended Consequences."

Goldstein strongly believes in the power of collective self-policing. "By analogy, you will notice that more and more not-for-profit organizations are beginning to create audit committees on their boards and some have adopted "whistle blower" policies. There was no mandate nor promulgation forcing them to do this. What happened? Donors asked questions and boards had no choice but to make sure the right boxes could be checked off or risk losing contributions, the lifeblood of funding. These charities are run by smart people who are taking the hint. They want to be good players. With luck, time and some coordination, we can edge hedge funds in the same direction."

In the absence of a serious industry attempt to do better (for those funds who are not already at the top of their game), new accounting rules (FAS 157 or IAS 39 for example) and/or regulators' admonitions (such as the U.S. Department of Labor's recent letter to a plan sponsor, urging them to do their own valuation homework) could cause institutional investors to shy away from alternative investments such as hedge funds. If true that alternatives might help to diversify a portfolio, then a rejection due to a statutory artifice (versus an economic exigency) would be yet another example of the "Law of Unintended Consequences." (Read "Regulators Tell Pensions to Independently Value Positions," August 9, 2008, to access the aforementioned letter about valuation.)

This blogger says "bravo" and wishes the New York Hedge Fund Roundtable the best of luck. If Pension Governance, LLC can be of assistance, count us in. We agree that volitional "best practice" attempts are almost always far superior to a "one size fits all" authoritative mandate.

Editor's Notes:

• According to economist Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations, "Every individual...generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention." Click for more quotes by Adam Smith.
• According to the Library of Economics and Liberty, the "Law of Unintended Consequences" states that "actions of people - and especially of government - always have effects that are unanticipated or 'unintended.'" The concept is related to Adam Smith's invisible hand theory wherein the famous economist wrote "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self interest."
• In aftermath of mandates such as FAS 133 (U.S. derivatives accounting standard) or FRS 17 (UK retirement benefit plan accounting standard), experts documented a clear change in the way impacted parties went about their business.
• Interested readers can download "The Failings of FRS 17 and the Impact of Pensions on the UK Stock Market" by SEI researchers and Laurence Copeland (Cardiff Business School). The assertion is that, several years after its  2001 implementation, "the majority of UK pension schemes have closed to new entrants." In an attempt to promote transparency about retirement plans, the unintended effect is a diminution of aggregate employee benefits.
• Another interesting publication is "The Impact of FAS 133 on the Risk Management Practices of End Users of Derivatives, "Association of Financial Professionals, September 2002. Researchers conclude that reduced hedging activity is likely due in part to the implementation of what users describe as an "excessive burden" in order to comply.
• Regulators have called for more rules to govern non-profit boards, leading some to suggest that improvements are part "stick" as well as "carrot." For example, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 mandates enhanced disclosures and distribution limits for non-profits. Read "The Pension Protection Act of 2006 and Nonprofit Reforms" by Eileen Morgan Johnson, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston, LLP, January 2006. Also click to read "Nonprofit Governance In the United States" by Francie Ostrower, The Urban Institute, 2007. Click to access the Appendices to this paper.