Go to main content
Harvard Business School
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions

Faculty & Research

  • HOME
  • FACULTY
  • RESEARCH
    • Global Research Centers
    • HBS Case Collection
    • HBS Case Development
    • Initiatives & Projects
    • Publications
    • Research Associate (RA) Positions
    • Research Services
    • Seminars & Conferences
    Close
  • FEATURED TOPICS
    • Business and Environment
    • Business History
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Globalization
    • Health Care
    • Human Behavior and Decision-Making
    • Leadership
    • Social Enterprise
    • Technology and Innovation
    Close
  • ACADEMIC UNITS
    • Accounting and Management
    • Business, Government and the International Economy
    • Entrepreneurial Management
    • Finance
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    • Organizational Behavior
    • Strategy
    • Technology and Operations Management
    Close

Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | December 2018

Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund

by Emil Nuwan Siriwardane

  • Print
  • Email

Abstract

Teaching Note for HBS No. 218-030.

Language: English Format: Print 26 pages Purchase

Citation:

Siriwardane, Emil Nuwan. "Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 219-074, December 2018.

Related Work

  1. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | December 2018

    Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund

    Emil Nuwan Siriwardane

    Citation:

    Siriwardane, Emil Nuwan. "Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 219-729, December 2018.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related

About the Author

Photo
Emil N. Siriwardane
Assistant Professor of Business Administration
Finance

View Profile »
View Publications »

 

More from the Author

  • Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised November 2019)

    Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund

    Emil Siriwardane, Juliane Begenau and Yuval Gonczarowski

    Nickol Hackett, chief investment officer of the Cook County Pension Fund, is responsible for investing the fund’s $9 billion worth of assets on behalf of the employees of Cook County, Illinois. Like many other defined-benefit pensions at the time, the Cook County pension faces a funding shortfall, meaning that the value of its assets is below the value of its future obligations to retirees. Hackett can invest in fixed income securities, public equities, and alternative assets such as hedge funds, real estate, or private equity. What are the costs and benefits of each asset class? Should the funding status of the pension impact the asset allocation process? How should Hackett invest in order to grow the value of the fund’s assets and secure the retirement benefits for thousands of Cook County’s employees?

    Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions;

    Citation:

    Siriwardane, Emil, Juliane Begenau, and Yuval Gonczarowski. "Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund." Harvard Business School Case 218-030, September 2017. (Revised November 2019.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
  • Article | Journal of Finance | October 2019

    Limited Investment Capital and Credit Spreads

    Emil N. Siriwardane

    Using proprietary credit default swap (CDS) data, I investigate how capital shocks at protection sellers impact pricing in the CDS market. Seller capital shocks—measured as CDS portfolio margin payments—account for 12% of the time-series variation in weekly spread changes, a significant amount given that standard credit factors account for 18% during my sample. In addition, seller shocks possess information for spreads that is independent of institution-wide measures of constraints. These findings imply a high degree of market segmentation and suggest that frictions within specialized financial institutions prevent capital from flowing into the market at shorter horizons.

    Keywords: credit risk; derivatives; capital markets; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Capital Markets; Credit; Financial Institutions;

    Citation:

    Siriwardane, Emil N. "Limited Investment Capital and Credit Spreads." Journal of Finance 74, no. 5 (October 2019): 2303–2347.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Read Now Related
  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised March 2019)

    Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund

    Emil Nuwan Siriwardane

    Citation:

    Siriwardane, Emil Nuwan. "Asset Allocation at the Cook County Pension Fund." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 218-704, September 2017. (Revised March 2019.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
ǁ
Campus Map
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→ Map & Directions
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
→ More Contact Information
  • HBS Facebook
  • Alumni Facebook
  • Executive Education Facebook
  • Michael Porter Facebook
  • Working Knowledge Facebook
  • HBS Twitter
  • Executive Education Twitter
  • HBS Alumni Twitter
  • Michael Porter Twitter
  • Recruiting Twitter
  • Rock Center Twitter
  • Working Knowledge Twitter
  • Jobs Twitter
  • Social Enterprise Twitter
  • HBS Youtube
  • Michael Porter Youtube
  • Executive Education Youtube
  • HBS Linkedin
  • Alumni Linkedin
  • Executive Education Linkedin
  • MBA Linkedin
  • Linkedin
  • HBS Instagram
  • Alumni Instagram
  • Executive Education Instagram
  • Michael Porter Instagram
  • HBS iTunes
  • Executive Education iTunes
  • HBS Tumblr
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College