Clive Lipshitz has coauthored a book, several academic studies, and policy papers related to public pension funds and infrastructure finance. He has also coauthored numerous opinion pieces in the financial media on these topics.
To communicate with Clive about any of these articles or opinion pieces, please to contact him at clive@ti-advisors.com.
Book
“A must read for anyone interested in the next chapters of pension fund management and infrastructure finance in the U.S.“
Scott E. Kalb, former CIO and Deputy CEO, Korea Investment Corp
Bridging the Gaps: Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Finance, New York University Global Institute for Advanced Study, Jul 2019 (ranked #5 best new public finance book by Bookauthority)
Academic Papers
“A fundamental feature of Canadian pension systems is that the math works.”
Seeking Sustainability in American Public Employee Pension Systems, The Journal of Portfolio Management, Nov 2020
“Using a novel primary dataset, the authors benchmark the 25 largest U.S. plans against their ten largest Canadian peers, exploring key issues in a paired analysis. The authors extract fundamental lessons from the Canadian experience, proposing a roadmap for reform of the U.S. public pension system.”
Public Pension Reform and the 49th Parallel: Lessons from Canada for the U.S., Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments (Wiley), Volume 29, Number 4, Nov 2020
“We assess alternative ways of achieving a more efficient connection between public pension funds and the capital structures of infrastructure projects.”
Bridging Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Investing, NYU Stern, Feb 2019
“This working paper compares San Jose’s two public pension plans with other plans of similar size in the U.S.”
Analysis of City of San Jose Retirement Plans Investment Portfolios, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Nov 2017
On the cusp of an infrastructure renaissance: Financing and funding infrastructure in the United States (part two of three), Institutional Investing in Infrastructure (Vol 14, Number 5, May 2021)
Articles
“The current market environment provides a unique opportunity for investors to secure – at scale – highly predictable medium duration cash flows from permanent multifamily real estate debt… secondary market purchases represent an opportunity for investors to build exposure to these loans and do so at potentially attractive valuations.”
Multifamily Debt amid Higher Interest Rates: The Appeal for Liability-Driven Investors, INSTITUTIONAL REAL ESTATE Newsline, Jun 2023
“It is therefore our view that adding an allocation of multifamily whole loans to an existing portfolio should improve the portfolio’s total risk-adjusted return.”
SEEKING CASH FLOWS: PERMANENT MULTIFAMILY WHOLE LOAN INVESTMENT, INSTITUTIONAL REAL ESTATE AMERICAS, MAR 2023
Policy Papers
Renewal of U.S. transportation infrastructure: Bridging private capital into public transportation infrastructure (part three of three), Institutional Investing in Infrastructure (Vol 14, Number 6, June 2021)
On the cusp of an infrastructure renaissance: Financing and funding infrastructure in the United States (part two of three), Institutional Investing in Infrastructure (Vol 14, Number 5, May 2021)
On the cusp of an infrastructure renaissance: A primer on U.S. infrastructure (part one of three), Institutional Investing in Infrastructure (Vol 14, Number 4, April 2021)
“Judging by the record of earlier presidents who were effective leaders in infrastructure, President Biden needs to combine national vision with executive leadership to get things done. His first objective will be to get past the Covid-19 pandemic. Infrastructure should follow soon thereafter. His most important ally in this effort will be Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg.”
Renewal Options for U.S. Transportation Infrastructure, NYU Stern Research Highlights, Feb 2021 (originally published as Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Renewal of U.S. Transportation Infrastructure)
“Infrastructure data abounds, and there’s a need to leverage this rich material to improve our networks and systems, to inform public discussion about needs and procurement, and to improve government decision-making and accountability.”
An Informed, Engaged Public is Key to Modernizing Infrastructure, AECOM, Jan 2019
Co-authored with Mike Burke, former CEO of AECOM
“As we have argued, there are practical steps that can be taken right now by participants in the infrastructure market, as well as public policy initiatives that we actively support.”
The Infrastructure Gap: Financing and Funding the Future, AECOM, Jan 2018
Opinion Pieces
“Any proposal to do something new requires a catalyst for action. The funded status of U.S. pensions has recovered significantly in 2021. This owes much to tailwinds from very supportive capital markets. It is likely a one-time gain. Ultimately, for this to be lasting, pensions should seize this opportunity to look at plan design, governance, and permanent enhancements to the management of pension reserves, including the benefits of scale.”
Achieving Scale in Pensions Through Portfolio Aggregation, Pension Pulse, Nov 2021
“A coherent national commitment can provide the long-term framework for the country’s transportation infrastructure, with implementation devolved in large part to the states.”
Pete Buttigieg Can Rebuild America’s Transportation Infrastructure: Five Suggestions, NYU Stern Faculty Opinions, Feb 2021
“…for more than two centuries, it was massive infrastructure projects that gave rise to new frontiers and robust economic development. Among them: the Erie Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Panama Canal, the TVA and the Interstate System. Critical to these is the harnessing of private, state and federal government resources.”
Innovations in infrastructure finance: Ideas for Amtrak Joe, IREI, Jan 2021
“President-elect Biden and the 117th Congress must come together to craft a bipartisan infrastructure bill early in the new administration.”
Time for the Feds to Get Moving on Infrastructure, NYU Stern Faculty Opinions, Dec 2020
“Canada today has a public pension system that is well-funded and sustainable. This was not always the case. Until the late 1980s, its public pensions were in poor shape.”
There’s a way to fix the $4.6 trillion U.S. public pension mess:Canada shows us how, MarketWatch, Nov 2020
“One of the key lessons is that scale matters, and there are ways to achieve scale even for smaller pension funds through the pooling of assets. We call this the consortium model of pension system design.”
America’s Public Pension Challenges Can Be Fixed. Canada Is Proof. Critical mass is the way forward, researchers argue, Institutional Investor, Aug 2020
“In Canada, the joint sponsorship model was key to ensuring greater public pension sustainability.”
The US should look to Canada to reform its public pension system, The Hill, Jul 2020
“Capital markets must reward companies that invest in resilience with lower discount rates instead of penalizing them for the foregone short-term gains.”
A Lesson for America from the COVID-19 crisis: think like an insurer, Pensions & Investments, May 2020
“These are two ‘boiling frog’ problems of immense significance, which, if left unaddressed, will gradually lead to a deterioration in economic growth, competitiveness and social equity.”
Public Pensions and Public Infrastructure: How they can Sustain Each Other, Institutional Investing in Infrastructure, Dec 2019
“There is a fundamental unfairness between generations if future taxpayers have to bear the burden of decisions made by their forebears.”
A roadmap for preventing U.S. public pension funds from becoming a taxpayer burden, Pensions & Investments, Aug 2019
“Our findings suggest now might be the perfect time to match pension capital with infrastructure investment needs, creating winners on both ends of the financial chain.”