Thailand and Sri Lanka make Calpers list
Bloomberg News
February 4, 2005
Dominic G. Diongson 

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund, has been advised by the consulting firm Wilshire Associates to invest in stocks in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Turkey, in an annual review of emerging markets.
 
Wilshire said markets in those countries scored higher this year than in 2004, based on criteria that include transparency, political stability, labor standards and market regulations, according to a report posted Wednesday on the California pension fund's Web site.
 
The fund, also known as Calpers, withdrew its investment in Thailand in 2002, after the country scored low on the criteria list. Since then, Thailand's benchmark SET index has more than doubled. The index has gained 6.3 percent this year.
 
"There are some investors who follow the advice of Calpers, so there could be an interest back in Thailand," said Low Say Ping, a fund manager at APS Asset Management in Singapore.
 
Calpers last year benefited from Wilshire's advice to invest in Malaysian equities after withdrawing in 2002. The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite index rose 14 percent last year for its first back-to-back annual gain since 1996.
 
Sri Lanka's benchmark Colombo All-Share index has gained 16 percent in dollar terms so far this year, the second-best performer among 60 major global indexes tracked by Bloomberg.
 
Calpers has not always followed the advice of Wilshire. It did not invest in Thailand last year after the firm said that the fund may view India and Thailand as "special cases." It added India to its investments in April. India's benchmark Sensitive index last year rose 17 percent in dollar terms, while Thailand's SET lost 12 percent.
 
Wilshire assessed 23 other emerging-market countries in its annual review. Those that also made the so-called "permissible equity markets" list were Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan.
 
Calpers, which has $36.4 billion in equities outside the United States, will review Wilshire's report at its investment committee meeting on Feb. 14.
 
"Countries and other interested parties shall have 30 days to review the report and provide feedback," a Calpers spokesman, Brad Pacheco, said in an e-mail message. "An interim report will be provided in March, and formal adoption of final recommendations shall occur at the April investment committee."
 
No change to Malaysia peg
 
Malaysia will not revise its currency's six-year-old peg to the dollar soon because it provides stability and ensures that the nation's exports remain competitive, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said.
 
"The ringgit peg will not be revised in the near future," Najib said in a speech in Kuala Lumpur. "Given an expected slowdown in the world economy and in the export environment, the peg continues to provide much-needed predictability and competitiveness for Malaysian exports."
 
Former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad introduced capital controls and fixed the ringgit at 3.8 to the U.S. dollar in 1998 in a bid to curb currency speculation during the Asian financial crisis.

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