Benefits November 29, 2002

"Close" Encounters in the Workplace

November 29, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - You might want to keep an eye on the mistletoe at the office Christmas party this year, according to a new online survey on office "encounters."
Reported by

While roughly half of male respondents to the online Playboy magazine poll said they had slept with co-workers, two-thirds of female respondents said they had engaged in that activity.   More than 80% of the 10,000 respondents to the poll admitted flirting with co-workers.

Roughly half (46%) of female respondents claimed to have slept with their bosses, compared with just 18% of men – a disparity Playboy attributed to the prevalence of male bosses.  

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Intern-al Affairs

Meanwhile, in a statistic sure to claim a headline or two, one in five female respondents said they had been intimate with an intern, compared with just 12% of male respondents.

And that level of intimacy apparently wasn’t limited to offsite “encounters.”   Female respondents displayed a preference for desks, while men opted for the more traditional couch, or even a chair.   Least popular locale for respondents of both genders was the mailroom or copy room.

The boss’ office also ranked relatively low – but you might want to knock first.

The full results will be published in the January issue of Playboy.

Investing November 27, 2002

MSCI Reports Final October Hedge Fund Figures

November 27, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Hedge Fund Composite Index rose 1.27% year-to-date, after an October increase of 0.07%.
Reported by

The MSCI Hedge Fund Composite Index is composed of five equally weighted process group indices:  the Directional Trading, Relative Value, Security Selection, Specialist Credit and Multi-Process indices. 

The best-performing index so far in the year, the MSCI Direction Trading, was down -2.16% in October, but remains up 8.73% year-to-date.  Conversely, the worst year-to-date performer, the MSCI Security Selection Index, was up 0.88% in October, with year-to-date return now at -2.98%.

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October also saw gains made in the MSCI Relative Value Index, up 0.19% and the MSCI Specialist Credit, up 0.11%.  Year-to-date the funds are up 4.66% and 0.53%, respectively.

Additionally, the Multi-Process Group Index was also up in October with a 0.62% gain, but is down year-to-date -1.77%. 

Other MSCI indices had mixed results in October.  The MSCI World Equity Index was up 7.28% for the month, but down year-to-date -21.09%.  The MSCI World Sovereign Debt Index declined in October -0.39%, but is up year-to-date 13.75%.

Final October numbers for the Hedge Fund Composite Index declined slightly, to a gain of 0.07%, from the    November 13 mid-month estimates  of a 0.20% gain.

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