U.S. pension funds and other tax-exempt investors invested $19.4...

U.S. pension funds and other tax-exempt investors invested $19.4 billion in international and global mandates for the first six months of the year, according to InterSec Research. While similar to that of the same period last year, the total is well below the $30 billion invested by tax-exempt funds in the second half of 1998. The amount includes initial fundings only, not flows into existing commingled and mutual funds. Active international equity mandates continue to dominate, capturing 74% of all cross-border initial fundings in the first half of the year vs. 54% for the same period last year. For active international equity, MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. mandates are grabbing more market share, with 19% of the active international equity initial fundings benchmarked to the index vs. 4% during all of last year. Active emerging markets equity mandates are also showing strength, with close to $1.3 billion invested in the first half of the year vs. $931 million in the first half of 1998 and $864 million in the second half. InterSec surveyed more than 190 managers running more than $600 billion in cross-border mandates at the end of 1998.