- PoliticsBusiness Insider
Donald Trump's closest Silicon Valley ally, Peter Thiel, is reportedly abandoning the president's re-election campaign
Sources said that although he may still vote for Trump, Thiel has not donated any money to the campaign thus far and doesn't plan to.
8585 reactions - BusinessBloomberg
World’s Largest Pension Fund Loses $165 Billion in Worst Quarter
(Bloomberg) -- The world’s biggest pension fund posted a record loss in the first three months of 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic sparked a global market rout in the period.Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund lost 11%, or 17.7 trillion yen ($164.7 billion), in the three months ended March, it said in Tokyo on Friday. The decline in value was the steepest based on comparable data back to April 2008, reducing the fund’s total assets to 150.63 trillion yen. Foreign stocks were the worst performing investment, followed by domestic equities.The results come just months after the fund revamped top management and revised its asset allocation to focus more on overseas debt. The loss, which wiped out gains for the fiscal year, may attract political attention as social security remains a major concern for tens of millions of Japan’s retirees.“The decline in domestic and foreign equities led to a negative return for the fiscal year,” said Masataka Miyazono, the president of GPIF. “Both equity markets performed strongly during 2019 even under pressures from the U.S.-China trade negotiations. The global coronavirus pandemic led to investors taking a risk-off stance.”Overseas bonds were the only major asset to generate a positive quarterly return. The securities gained 0.5%, compared with losses of 0.5% for domestic bonds, 18% for local equities and 22% for foreign stocks. In April, GPIF raised its asset allocation to foreign bonds by 10 percentage points to 25%, while keeping the target for foreign and domestic stocks unchanged at 25%.Naoki Fujiwara, the chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management Co., said the losses were expected. Equities have rebounded since March, so the pension fund should be recouping losses for the April-June period, Fujiwara said.“The current portfolio is exposed to equity volatility,” he said. “We’re in a low-yield environment right now, and will likely be for the next two years, so maybe it’s alright for now, but in the long run, the pension fund should correct the allocation of equities.”Read more: An Ex-Goldman Bond Trader’s Quiet Rise to Managing $1.6 TrillionUnder the new guidance of GPIF President Miyazono and Chief Investment Officer Eiji Ueda, the fund must navigate a volatile market torn between an ongoing coronavirus pandemic and promises of economic stimulus measures. Fears of a second wave of outbreak are already hampering the global equity markets recovery.The GPIF isn’t rushing to buy foreign bonds, which are 3% below its allocation target, Miyazono told reporters in Tokyo. The fund has a long-term investment timeframe much longer than 10-20 years, he said, adding that there will be no impact on pension payouts from a single year’s results.Investments in ESG indices reached a record high of 5.7 trillion yen. The GPIF, a leader in socially responsible investing, has invested in indexes such as the FTSE Blossom Japan, MSCI Japan ESG Select Leaders and MSCI Japan Empowering Women.During the January-March quarter, the MSCI All-Country World Index of global stocks slumped 22%, the worst since the global financial crisis. Yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasuries slumped 125 basis points to near record lows during the same period, fueled by unprecedented measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve and intense demand for haven assets. From April, the GPIF has adjusted its portfolio, setting a general target to keep 25% each in all four asset classes, with the allocation of each assets allowed to deviate by different ranges.(Adds second chart, ESG holdings in 10th paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- U.S.USA TODAY
Black family sues Hilton after white clerk calls police over hotel's own billing mistake
A billing mistake by the hotel results in a dispute that led to police being called to the Hampton Inn. Now the guests are suing.
- U.S.NBC News
He consulted experts when COVID-19 hit. Now, his state is reopening as others shut down.
Gov. Phil Murphy was faced with thousands of COVID-19 cases in April — but these days he is cautiously optimistic.
- EntertainmentVariety
Vanilla Ice Cancels Austin Concert After Uproar: ‘I Didn’t Know the Numbers Were So Crazy’
Vanilla Ice has put a planned weekend concert outside of Austin on ice after catching heat for promoting what looked to be a non-socially-distancing show amid a marked uptick in COVID-19 diagnoses. In what may count as one of the major "duh" moments of the year, the rapper has backtracked on his claims that his […]
- CelebrityCosmopolitan
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Are Spending Time Together Again and Apparently Their Relationship Is Way Healthier
Don't expect a romantic reconciliation though, this is all about their kids.
- U.S.Storyful
Video Apartment Complex Moves to Evict Woman After Racist Abuse of US Soldier Caught on Camera
An apartment complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina, said it had begun a legal action to terminate the residency of a woman after she was caught on video shouting racist slurs at a US paratrooper.The soldier, Diamonte Ugbesia, told Storyful he pulled up to the Kings Cross Apartments on June 25 and heard a woman screaming, “I hate black people.” Ugbesia followed her voice and when the woman spotted him, she began verbally abusing him.This video, filmed by Ugbesia, begins with another man telling the woman that she needs to “stop screaming.” The woman turns to Ugbesia and demands that he “get the f*** back down” before telling the other man that he “better kill that motherf***ing n*****.”Ugbesia told local media: “I got deployed to Afghanistan. Me coming home from Afghanistan serving my country to a person saying they hate me based off my skin color? That’s what I was mad about.”The apartment complex’s management said in a statement that it was taking action to evict the woman. Credit: Diamonte Ugbesia via Storyful
