Born and bred in the Midwest, Matthew D. McCormick is very comfortable as he traverses the country and world pitching the money management services of his employer, Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, to pension funds, endowments, foundations and other institutional investors.

In the midst of the financial crisis, defined contribution plan participants fled the stock market and remained too shellshocked to get back in when equity prices turned around.

Endowments and foundations — institutional investors best known for broad portfolio diversification and cutting-edge investment strategies — dramatically increased their allocations to passive domestic equities last year as the global financial crisis exposed significant liquidity problems.

Corporate and public pension fund officials are taking diametrically opposed approaches to dealing with their severely underfunded plans, with corporate plans going for safety by cutting risk and public ones pushing for big returns by adding risk, according to a forthcoming report from Greenwich Associates.

Social media — the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter — will become more critical tools over the next year for executives at pension funds, money managers and consultants, a survey by Pensions & Investments shows.

The credit crisis hangover might be over, but pension funds and other institutional investors are not about to start partying again — despite 2009's rally in stocks, credit and some alternative investments like hedge funds.

The pay-to-play private placement scandal was the top institutional investment story of the year, Pensions & Investments' editors say.

Solid gains in emerging market equities and small-cap stocks helped institutional investors post a second straight quarter of strong gains, pushing corporate and public plans funds into positive territory for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, according to Northern Trust.