Investors

Voting for the first round of the third annual Global PERE Awards will close on January 5, 2009. Have you nominated the people, firms, funds and deals that stood out in 2008 yet? If not, cast your vote now.

The asset management arm of the German insurance firm has appointed Stefan Brendgen as its chairman and CIO with effect from next year. The move will release current CEO Karl Ralf Jung to return full time to managing Allianz’s private equity, real estate and infrastructure investments.

The $97bn pension, which has lost about $30bn since the end of June, increased the upper limit of its target private equity allocation to account for the denominator effect.

The $182bn Sacramento, California-based pension, struggling with the denominator effect, will vote next week on whether to raise the upper limit of its target allocation to real estate and private equity. The pension's real estate portfolio is currently 1.6% overweighted.

LPs are turning away existing relationships as they bump up against their target allocations. Almost two-thirds will sell interests on the secondaries market to focus resources on the best GPs, according to an LP survey by Coller Capital. There has been a 'growing recognition' among LPs of the importance of being with the best GPs.

The $850m Chicago Firemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund will make a third secondaries investment by the end of the month.

The founder of a notable New York law firm has been accused of impersonating an Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan official, reportedly in an attempt to defraud real estate and private equity firm, Fortress Investment Group.

Harvard’s endowment has lost 22% of its $40bn portfolio value since June. It is bracing for up to a 30% drop in value for the year, once its receives fully updated private equity and real estate valuations.

Corporate finance lawyer Jacques Demers will lead OMERS Strategic Investments, a new investment division tasked with making very large investments for the pension in 'global asset companies' including airports, real estate and energy projects.

Voting has begun in the third annual Global PERE Awards. Which people, firms, funds and deals stood out in 2008? Cast your nominations now in the only industry awards that are voted on entirely by the participants in the private equity real estate market.