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Where's Oil Money Going? Maybe to Your Pension

Petroleum proceeds boost retirement funds

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2008 2:12 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Wall Street brokers and energy speculators aren’t the only ones lining their pockets thanks to skyrocketing oil prices, the Washington Post reports. Many pension funds have pushed heavily into commodities, bringing big returns in a time of economic strife. “Our commodity investment has really helped,” said the executive director of the Fairfax County, Va., pension fund, which has seen a 61% return.

Pension funds dipped into the notoriously treacherous commodity waters after the 2001 market crash, hoping for greater diversity. Now they’re among the biggest in a growing pool of financial industry commodity speculators, but some say they shouldn’t be. “They were never designed for that,” says one hedge fund manager. “When you are buying food and energy commodities, it's affecting people's lives. There are social-justice issues.”

In this March 28, 2006 file photo, the Discoverer Deep Seas drillship sits on station off the coast of Louisiana as Chevron drills for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
In this March 28, 2006 file photo, the Discoverer Deep Seas drillship sits on station off the coast of Louisiana as Chevron drills for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Gas prices are seen on signs at two gas stations in Milwaukee, Ore., Thursday, July, 3, 2008.
Gas prices are seen on signs at two gas stations in Milwaukee, Ore., Thursday, July, 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
A trader, left, and a specialist look at screens at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday July 1, 2008.
A trader, left, and a specialist look at screens at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday July 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Pensions object to anti-speculation bills
Wall Street Journal

We're all speculators
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

US • Money

 
pensions • oil price • commodities • pension funds • speculators

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