Deals & People April 27, 2009

NFL Alumni Expands Mission to Support Retired Players

NFL Alumni, an organization started 40 years ago to seek pension benefits for the pioneer players of the NFL, will expand its membership and the scope of its activities to emphasize support for retired players in medical and financial need.
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In 1967, the alumni group in became a non-profit organization primarily focused in its local chapters on youth activities through its “Caring for Kids” program. As part of the restructuring, NFL Alumni now will focus on key issues affecting retired players such as medical, financial, and post-career counseling, while also continuing to support youth charities, according to a press release from the group.

As an initial step, NFL Alumni has formed an alliance with other retired players and Fourth and Goal, a retired NFL player advocacy organization.

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“We recognize that many retired players haven’t been looking for an independent football organization such as ours to represent their interests,’ said Lee Nystrom, NFL Alumni’s chairman, in the announcement. “We have resources and are ready to do so as a national organization and do even more to address these important needs.’

More information is available at www.nflalumni.org.

Products April 27, 2009

Mercer Introduces Global Asset Class Research Boutiques

Mercer announced the creation of global asset class research boutiques within its investment consulting business.
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The new boutiques will initially cover fixed income, equity, bond, real estate, and alternative assets, according to an announcement. The move will primarily serve larger funds whose complex strategies require a high level of detailed knowledge, but the added resource and depth of research will also benefit Mercer’s broader client base, Mercer said.

“With our large clients, the real competition is increasingly from specialist research firms who put all their resource into researching single asset classes,” said Andrew Kirton, global head of Mercer’s investment consulting business, in the announcement. “By creating our own specialist teams we are taking our global manager research to the next level and will be able to compete with specialist boutiques, as well as provide our larger clients with a more comprehensive service.”

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The new structure means a significant investment will be made in people and infrastructure, including plans to more than double staff numbers in the real estate and alternatives areas, Mercer said.

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