Feminism, now stalled
Nancy Gertner is a former federal judge, the author of a recent memoir (“In Defense of Women”), a professor of practice at Harvard Law School, and an authority on sentencing, jury system discrimination, forensic evidence, and other legal areas.But go back to June 1971, the month she had a loud argument with her mother in their kitchen in Flushing, Queens, N.Y. Gertner was about to graduate from Yale Law School and assume a prestigious clerkship in Chicago. But her mother wanted her to take the test to be a Triborough Bridge toll taker — just in case.For a young woman lawyer at the time, “just in case” wasn’t a bad idea. The law was a man’s world. But just a decade later, the culture seemed to swing toward what feminists worked for: parity. By the late 1980s, first-rate law firms were hiring men and women in equal numbers. “We thought the numbers would do everything,” Gertner said during a lunchtime talk on Feb. 23 that was sponsored by the Women and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School. (Weekly talks there are part of the program’s mission to create gender equality.)But faith in the raw numbers turned out to be “dramatically wrong,” said Gertner. “Advancement has stalled.” Half of all new lawyers are women, she said, but only 16 percent of equity partners in law firms are female. And of lawyers who leave the profession, most are women — and most do it because of family and social concerns.Gertner used the lens of the legal profession to speculate why, after earlier rapid advances, feminism’s cultural agenda seems to have stalled. (Universities, she said, are in an analogous position, with plenty of women graduating as Ph.D.s, but few getting to the top of the academic game.)During her years on the bench from 1994 to 2011, Gertner got used to being trotted out at events as an example of progress. “You’re supposed to say: ‘Things are fabulous,’ ” she told her audience at the Taubman Building’s Cason Seminar Room. But they are not. The women’s movement was not just about having more choices, she said, but about “revolutionary” changes in the workplace and at home that have not happened yet.In today’s “imperfectly transformed world,” said Gertner, it is social expectations and an “unfriendly workforce” that mean a woman — if anyone — usually will stay home with the children. (She called this reality “the maternal wall.”)Gertner cited one study that showed 30 percent of women leaving the law, including 15 percent of equity partners, those with a financial stake in a firm. Another study, she said, showed that 34 percent of female law graduates have worked part time, compared with only 9 percent of their male counterparts.So without a corresponding transformation of family responsibilities, feminism is likely to stay stalled, she said. “We’ve hit a wall.”It’s not a situation that discrimination lawsuits can correct, said Gertner, because so many women are “leaning out” of their professions — that is, anticipating future pressures and so choosing career paths that enable them to leave the workplace more readily. (She gave as an example the woman who chooses a small family-practice firm over a larger one that presents more challenges and opportunities.) “If women are leaning out” of their own volition, said Gertner, “then their failure to advance can’t be the subject of a lawsuit.”Besides, she added, overt gender discrimination in the workplace has gone the way of discos and bell-bottoms, “a world that no longer exists.” What is left, said Gertner, is “implicit bias,” which has the same stalling effect on feminism as the maternal wall.There is also an issue with executing the law itself — a denial of the power of context. The gender discrimination lawsuits that do make it to court are weakened by a tendency to “slice and dice” the circumstances of alleged discrimination, said Gertner. “You don’t look at them as a course of conduct,” but as separate events. “Discrimination in the real world does not fit into the legal models we have.”One way to counteract this tendency in the law is to have judges on the bench who are aware of the way the world works. “I had an appreciation of context,” said Gertner of her time as a judge. “I never saw the law as legal rules on the page.” (That appreciation, in part, was biographical. Her judicial tenure was influenced by her early childhood in a tenement on Manhattan’s lower East Side, by championing unpopular clients as a young lawyer, and by becoming a mother at age 39.)In the absence of overt gender discrimination, it is hard to get legal redress, said Gertner. For young women in the workplace today, “it’s the opacity of discrimination” that makes advancement difficult, she said, instead of the stark realities of discrimination in the 1970s. Gertner said, “It was easier for me.”With feminism stalled by social pressures at home and the workplace, she offered a radical idea. “The government needs to step up to the plate,” Gertner said, beginning by providing incentives for day care that would make it easier for women to combine career and work.After all, there is a “business case” to be made for gender equality in law firms and workplaces, “beyond the obvious need to tap a rich vein of talent,” said Gertner. In a diverse world, workplace diversity adds to “the texture and the richness of the dialogue,” she said.In the end, feminism’s mission of workplace parity has been stalled by the three factors of the maternal wall, implicit bias, and the opacity of discrimination, Gertner said.She said advocates have a list of things to do: parse workplace discrimination by collecting the right data; engage in collective action; and challenge the government to underwrite day care and other engines of cultural change.But all this is not enough. “The most important thing is: We have to be unsatisfied,” Gertner told her largely female, professional audience. “We have to not believe that this was the accomplishment of the women’s movement — that I’m here and that you’re here is somehow all we can achieve.”
Federal policies regulating the sea of industrial chemicals we encounter in everyday life—and new ones being formulated in laboratories—are “broken” and in need of urgent overhaul to better protect our brains from harmful toxins, a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researcher said in a March 18, 2014 online article in The Atlantic.The primary U.S. law regulating these chemicals is the Toxic Substances Control Act. Since the passage of the law about 40 years ago, more than 20,000 new chemicals have entered the market. Only five have been removed, according to the article.“We don’t have the luxury to sit back and wait until science figures out what’s really going on, what the mechanisms are, what the doses are, and that sort of thing. We’ve seen with lead and mercury and other poisons that it takes decades (to discover their damaging effects). And during that time we are essentially exposing the next generation to exactly the kind of chemicals that we want to protect them from,” Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at HSPH, told The Atlantic.In the article Grandjean discussed a report he co-authored with Philip Landrigan, dean for global health at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, published in February 2014 in Lancet Neurology that raised concerns about a “silent pandemic” of chemical exposure on developing brains in children. Read Full Story
MILLBORO, Va. (AP) — A black bear has attacked a woman at a state park in Virginia, prompting officials to close the park’s hiking trails.Virginia State Parks spokesman Jim Meisner says the woman was hiking with two dogs in Douthat State Park in Millboro when she was attacked from behind by the bear Sunday around 1 p.m.News outlets report the woman suffered injuries to her legs but was able to walk to find help. She is expected to make a full recovery.Meisner says all trails will remain closed through Friday.This the second time in two years a hiker has been attacked by a bear in Douthat State Park.Law enforcement officers and members of the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries are searching for the bear. Bear traps have been placed on trails throughout the park. There are no current orders to kill the bear.Read more about bear attacks in the Blue Ridge here.
5/29 – 6/1 – Riverbend Music Festival – Chattanooga, Tennessee 5/24 – 5/26 – DelFest – Cumberland, Maryland 
6/13 – 6/16 – Franklin County, Virginia 
5/17 – 5/19 Appalachian Trail Days – Damascus, Virginia Nestled in the West Virginia mountains in Snowshoe is Wanderlust. Looking for a break from music festivals? Wanderlust’s mission is to help you live a healthy and inspired life. Want to relax and try some acro yoga with your partner? This is the festival for you. 4/25 – 4/28 Tuck Fest – Charlotte, North Carolina After 1,753 miles, 27 hours of total drive time, five days, and nine states we’ve made it back to the Blue Ridge! It was a long haul, but we’re looking forward to getting organized and hitting the road to our first festival of 2019. As usual, we’ll be loaded down with plenty of copies of our favorite magazine (hint, hint) and some awesome giveaways from our sponsors. Want to hang out with the Road Team? Wondering where you can find us next? Check out our event list below and keep your eyes peeled for our 2019 meetup schedule. We’ve got some exciting things planned for this season! 
Chattanooga here we come! With headliners like Weezer, Lionel Richie, Keith Urban, and Macklemore, Riverbend Music festival is sure to be a big one. With a backdrop of the Tennesee River, this four-day festival features music from almost every genre. The festival has four stages and the main one is on a floating barge. 
6/6 – 6/9 – Wanderlust – Snowshoe, West Virginia 
Some would call DelFest a picker’s paradise. Located at the beautiful Allegany County Fair Grounds in Cumberland, Maryland, DelFest features a family-friendly atmosphere and world-class bluegrass. This year’s headliners include the Del McCoury Band, String Cheese Incident, Trampled by Turtles and more. This will be our 3rd Tuck Fest at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tuck Fest is a free event and offers something for everyone. From the deep water solo climbing competitions to the stacked music lineup, Tuck Fest is the perfect family-friendly event to kick off our tour. This one is near and dear to our hearts. Come help us celebrate the spirit of the white blaze at this years’ Appalachian Trail Days! As usual, we’ll be set up in Town Park celebrating all things thru-hiking. We’re going big this year and we’ve got a lot of great activities planned including a little Trail Magic, our Mountain House pouch-swap, and a badminton tournament powered by LEKI. Follow along on our facebook more details about how you can get involved in one of these awesome meetups. Our last stop of the spring, but perhaps the one we’re most looking forward to, is our stop in Franklin County, VA. Just as the temperatures are heating up, we’ll be headed to one of the most beautiful places in the Blue Ridge. Franklin Country is a land of two lakes, four rivers spanning from the crest of the Blue Ridge down to the Virginia Piedmont, with the foothills of the Blue Ridge in between. There is one way for this tour to be a reality– our sponsors! Sending a thank you shout out to all of our other awesome sponsors that make this happen: Sea to Summit, Mountain House, Lowe Alpine, Leki, Big Agnes, Stio, Roofnest, and Franklin County, VA.
Rules of Judicial Admin. reorganization January 15, 2006 Regular News Rules of Judicial Admin. reorganization
In response to a request by the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar’s Rules of Judicial Administration Committee has submitted to the court an out-of-cycle report proposing the reorganization of the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. In conjunction with the rules committee’s proposals, the court proposes new rule 2.140(g), entitled “Amendments to the Rules of Judicial Administration.” The proposed rule outlines which Rules of Judicial Administration will be considered and adopted by the court without reference to or proposal from the rules committee. The court invites all interested persons to comment on the proposed amendments, which are reproduced in full below, as well as online at www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/proposed.shtml. An original and nine paper copies of all comments must be filed with the court on or before February 15, with a certificate of service verifying that a copy has been served on Judge Winifred J. Sharp, Committee Chair, Fifth District Court of Appeal, 300 South Beach Street, Daytona Beach 32114-5002, as well as a separate request for oral argument if the person filing the comment wishes to participate in oral argument, which may be scheduled in this case. Electronic copies of all comments also must be filed in accordance with the court’s administrative order In re Mandatory Submission of Electronic Copies of Documents, Fla. Admin. Order No. AOSC04-84 (Sept. 13, 2004). IN THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE FLORIDA RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION – REORGANIZATION OF THE RULES, CASE NO. 05-1588 Proposed Reorganization of Rules: FLORIDA RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Rule 2.010 2.110 Effective Date and Scope and Purpose 2.020 2.120 Definitions (a) Court Rule (b) Local Court Rule (c) Administrative Order 2.135 2.130 Priority of Conflicting Appellate Rules 2.130 2.140 Procedure for Amending Rules of Court ( b a ) Amendments Generally ( c b ) Schedule for Rules Proposals ( d c ) Rejected Proposals ( a d ) Emergency Amendments by Court (e) Emergency Recommendations by Committee (f) Request by Court (g) Amendments to the Rules of Judicial Administration (h) Local Rules Proposed by Trial Courts PART II. STATE COURT ADMINISTRATION 2.030 2.205 The Supreme Court (a) Internal Government (b) Clerk (c) Librarian (d) Marshal (e) State Courts Administrator (f) Open Sessions (g) Designation of Assigned Judges 2.040 2.210 District Courts of Appeal (a) Internal Government (b) Clerk (c) Marshal (d) Open Sessions (e) Designation of Assigned Judges 2.050 2.215 Trial Court Administration (a) Purpose (b) Chief Judge (c) Selection (d) Circuit Court Administrator (e) Local Rules and Administrative Orders (f) Duty to Rule within a Reasonable Time (g) Duty to Expedite Priority Cases (h) Neglect of Duty (i) Status Conference after Compilation of Record in Death Case 2.120 2.220 Conference of County Court Judges (a) Creation (b) Purpose (c) Officers (d) Authority 2.125 2.225 Judicial Management Council (a) Creation and Responsibilities (b) Schedule of Reports (c) Supreme Court Action on Recommendation by the Judicial Management Council (d) Membership and Organization (e) Staff Support and Funding 2.053 2.230 Trial Court Budget Commission (a) Purpose (b) Responsibilities (c) Operational Procedures (d) Action by Supreme Court or Chief Justice on Recommendations of Trial Court Budget Commission (e) Membership and Organization (f) Staff Support and Funding 2.054 2.235 District Court of Appeal Budget Committee (a) Purpose (b) Responsibilities (c) Operational Procedures (d) Action by Supreme Court or Chief Justice on Recommendations of District Court of Appeal Budget Commission (e) Membership and Organization (f) Staff Support and Funding 2.035 2.240 Determination of Need For Additional Judges (a) Statement of Purpose (b) Criteria (c) Additional Workload Factors (d) Certification Process 2.080(a)(b) 2.245 Uniform Case Reporting System for Trial Courts (a) Reporting (b) Uniform Case Numbering System 2.85(f)(g) 2.250 Time Standards for Trial and Appellate Courts And Reporting Requirements (a) Time Standards (b) Reporting of Cases 2.100 2.255 Statewide Grand Jury : Compilation of Lists; Excusal of Prospective Jurors (a) Procedure (b) Population (c) Excuses 2.180 2.260 Change of Venue Procedures (a) Preliminary Procedures (b) Presiding Judge (c) Reimbursement of Costs (d) Documentation of Costs (e) Timing of Reimbursement (f) Media Relations (g) Case File 2.110 2.265 Administration of Municipal Ordinance Violations (a) References to Abolished Municipal Courts (b) Costs in County Courts (c) Collection of Outstanding Fines (d) Judicial Notice of Municipal Ordinances (d) Style of Municipal Ordinance Cases PART III. JUDICIAL OFFICERS 2.140 2.310 Judicial Discipline, Removal, Retirement and Suspension (a) Filing (b) Procedure (c) Costs 2.150 2.320 Continuing Judicial Education (a) Purpose and Effective Date (b) Education Requirements (c) Course Approval (d) Waiver (e) Reporting Requirements and Sanctions 2.160 2.330 Disqualification of Trial Judges (a) Application (b) Parties (c) Motion (d) Grounds (e) Time (f) Determination – Initial Motion (g) Determination – Successive Motions (h) Prior Rulings (i) Judge’s Initiative (j) Time for Determination PART IV. JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS AND RECORDS 2.072 2.410 Possession of Court Records 2.051 2.420 Public Access to Judicial Branch Records (a) Generally Scope and Purpose (b) Definitions (c) Exemptions (d) Judicial Review of Denial of Access Request (e) Procedure 2.075 2.430 Retention of Court Records (a) Definitions (b) Required Consent (c) Permanently Recorded Records (d) Records Not Permanently Recorded (e) Records to be Retained Permanently (f) Court Reporters’ Notes (g) Exhibits (h) Disposition Other Than Destruction (i) Release of Court Records (j) Right to Expunge Records (k) Sealed Records 2.076 2.440 Retention of Judicial Branch Administrative Records (a) Definitions (b) Retention Requirements 2.170 2.450 Standards of Conduct and Technology Governing Electronic Media and Still Photography Technological Coverage of Judicial Proceedings (a) Electronic and Still Photography Allowed (b) Equipment and Personnel (c) Sound and Light Criteria (d) Location of Equipment Personnel (e) Movement During Proceedings (f) Courtroom Light Sources (g) Conferences of Counsel (h) Impermissible Use of Media Material (i) Appellate Review PART V. PRACTICE OF LAW A. ATTORNEYS 2.060(a)(b)(f)(g)(h)(i)(j)(k) 2.505 Attorneys (a) Generally Scope and Purpose (b) Persons Employed by the Court Not to Practice (c) Attorney Not to be Surety (d) Stipulations (e) Appearance of Attorney (f) Termination of Appearance of Attorney (g) Law Student Participation (h) Attorney as Agent of Client 2.061 2.510 Foreign Attorneys (a) Eligibility (b) Contents of Verified Motion B. PRACTICE AND LITIGATION PROCEDURES 2.060(c)(d)(e) 2.515 Signature of Attorneys and Parties (a) Pleadings to be Signed Attorney Signature (b) Party Not Represented by Attorney to Sign Pro Se Litigant Signature (c) Form of Signature of Attorney, Party, or Other Person 2.055 2.520 Paper (a) Type and Size (b) Exhibits (c) Recording Space (d) Exceptions to Recording Space (e) Noncompliance 2.090 2.525 Electronic Filing Of Matters In All Proceedings Within the State Courts System (a) Definition (b) Application (c) Documents Affected (d) Service (e) Transmission Difficulties (f) Administration 2.071 2.530 Use of Communication Equipment (a) Definition (b) Use by All Parties (c) Use Only by Requesting Party (d) Testimony (e) Burden of Expense (f) Petition to Override of Family Violence Indicator 2.070 2.535 Court Reporting (a) Definition (b) When Court Reporting Required (c) Record (d) Fees (e) Transcripts (f) Reporter as Officer of Court (g) Court Reporting Services Provided in Mental Health Proceedings or at Public Expense (h) Court Reporting Services in Capital Cases 2.065 2.540 Notices to Persons With Disabilities 2.085(a)(b)(c)(d) 2.545 Case Management and Time Standards for Trial and Appellate Courts (a) Purpose (b) Case Control (c) Priority Cases (d) Related Cases (e) Continuances 2.052 2.550 Calendar Conflicts (a) Guidelines (b) Additional Circumstances (c) Notice and Agreement; Resolution by Judges 2.080(c)(d)(e) 2.555 Uniform Case Reporting System for Trial Courts Initiation of Criminal Proceedings (a) Major Statutory Offense (b) Ordinance Violations (c) Information or Indictment after County Court Proceedings Begun Proposed Amendments to Renumbered Rule 2.140: Rule 2.140. Procedure for Amending Rules of Court (a) – (f) [No change] (g) Amendments to the Rules of Judicial Administration. (1) Amendments Without Referral to Rules Committee. Changes to the Rules of Judicial Administration contained in Part II, State Court Administration, of these rules, and rules 2.310, and 2.320, contained in Part III, Judicial Officers, generally will be considered and adopted by the supreme court without reference to or proposal from the Rules of Judicial Administration Committee. The supreme court may amend rules under this subdivision at any time, with or without notice. If a change is made without notice, the Court shall fix a date for future consideration of the change and the change shall be published on the Internet websites of the supreme court and The Florida Bar and in the Florida Bar Journal or Florida Bar News. Any person may file comments concerning the change, in accordance with the procedures set forth in subdivision (b)(6) of this rule. The court may hear oral argument on the change. Notice of the hearing on the change and a copy of the change shall be provided in accordance with subdivision (d) of this rule. (2) Other Amendments. Amendments to all other Rules of Judicial Administration shall be referred to or proposed by the Rules of Judicial Administration Committee and adopted by the supreme court as provided in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of this rule. (g) (h) Local Rules Proposed by Trial Courts. [No change] Committee Notes [No change]
In a recent The Financial Brand article, Jeffry Pilcher, CEO, writes about Bank of America’s new “robo branch” concept. These unstaffed branches utilize an ATM and video conferencing within 1,000 to 1,500 square feet. Customers can set up meetings with staff remotely and then use the conference room when they arrive. A digital ambassador will be present at robo branch openings to make customers more comfortable with the new concept.This concept has been tried in the past. In the late 90s, our firm installed 10 automated branches in Washington at the airport and shopping centers for BofA. There was an ATM, two phones and two PCs. These branches where dismantled within a year due to lack of use.ATM use is a given, but the idea that customers will schedule appointments to talk with someone about high value services via video conferencing at a remote location is a stretch for most people.That said, there are some applications where the concept can work. Since the introduction of remote teller technologies, we have been promoting the potential for automated branches at appropriate opportunities. Here are a few: continue reading » 14SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr
You may not be preparing your team for the Sugar Bowl (Jan 1st at 8:45pm on ESPN), but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to sharpen up your coaching skills from time to time. Helping employees grow and develop into all-stars is an important part of being a manager. Here are 3 tips to improve your coaching skills.Look for strengths as much as weaknesses: As a leader, you want your employees to excel. As a coach, you need to find what each employee is a good at, so you can put them in the right position to succeed. While you can spend some time helping an employee work on their weaknesses, focus on those strengths and let employees work in an area where they can be highly successful.Don’t just tell them what to do: You don’t want to have to tell your employees what to do all the time. The best coaches allow their teams to figure things out on their own. Instead of barking directions, have discussions with your team, ask them situational questions, and let them figure out what to do. You can really build confidence in an employee when they realize that they have to power to solve problems on their own.Always be positive: A great coach never brings negativity into the huddle. When the going gets tough, be optimistic. While things don’t go your way 100 percent of the time, you’ll be more likely to overcome adversity if you can stay positive. 67SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr,John Pettit John Pettit is the Managing Editor for CUInsight.com. John manages the content on the site, including current news, editorial, press releases, jobs and events. He keeps the credit union … Web: www.cuinsight.com Details
Credit unions are leading the call for data security legislation because they are “painfully aware” of how lax security can harm individuals’ financial security, CUNA Senior Director of Advocacy Lance Noggle wrote in Credit Union Times Friday. Since 2005, over 1.5 billion consumer records have been exposed through nearly 10,000 data breaches.“While leaders in Congress are busy discussing ways to keep our data out of the hands of Big Tech, they ignore the all too real threat posed by everyday bad actors illegally obtaining and misusing data for profit and exploitation. It’s time for Congress to realize that we can’t have data privacy without data security,” Noggle writes. These two concepts are often conflated, but it’s important to recognize the difference to ensure that both are accounted for when fixing this growing problem.“Data privacy looks at the ways that data is legally collected, stored, used and destroyed, and how that is disclosed to the public. Data security, on the other hand, is the protection of that data from nefarious actors,” he adds. ShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr continue reading »
The agenda of tomorrow’s Government session in Pula will also include an amendment to the concession agreement with Bina-Istra, which should enable the construction of a full profile of the motorway on the Pazin – Učka section of the Istrian Y. These are investments worth 165 million euros, for which the Government lobbied in Brussels, and the European Commission gave the green light for the extension of the concession in June this year, writes Večernji list.The Government expects that the construction of the second road with two 3,5-meter-wide lanes and a 2,5-meter-wide stop lane on the northeast side of the road, on the section from the Rogovići to Vranje junction, 28 kilometers long, will begin by the end of the year. The works on the section should last for three years, and the first section Rogovići-Ivoli, six kilometers long, will be put into operation two years after the start of works.To enable all this, it is planned to extend the concession agreement with Bina-Istra until June 2034 at the latest.Source: Vecernji list
European pension funds are increasingly seeking out properties that can be refurbished into core holdings as the demand for traditional core leads a supply shortage, according to the inaugural European Institutional Real Estate Survey (EIRES) by IPE.The survey, conducted jointly with Invesco, questioned more than 80 European pension funds with €100bn in property about their investment strategy and also found that listed real estate had limited appeal, employed mostly as a way of diversifying holdings.Together with their desire to “create core”, EIRES respondents also expressed a preference for direct investing – within both domestic and European portfolios – as it allowed for greater control over assets and therefore greater control over any risk emanating from the property.Of the 83 pension funds, managing nearly €1.3trn in assets, 85.4% opted for direct investment in their domestic market, and only 12.2% decided to invest indirectly through fund commitments. The survey noted: “WPV, the German auditors’ pension scheme, is including direct in its portfolio for the first time a bid to mitigate what it sees as the lack of control inherent in pooled funds.”An even smaller percentage opted for domestic exposure through funds of funds and an equal amount, 1.2%, sought to invest in domestic property securities.The survey added: “The correlation between market proximity and appetite for direct investment also explains the smaller, though still significant, gap between direct and fund investment in non-domestic European real estate.”When investing in other European cities, more than half still invested directly, although the number of investors opting for funds more than doubled to 27.9%.Real estate securities also saw a significant increase in popularity, and 19.4% said they would employ them to gain European exposure, while fund of fund investments only accounted for 1.5% of commitments, a marginal increase over how they were employed in a domestic setting.The survey also found an overwhelming appetite for core property in both domestic and European markets, and some pension funds also looked to invest in core-plus properties.More than 90% of funds said core properties were part of their domestic strategy, while 79.1% wanted this mirrored in their European ex domestic portfolio.A further 5.5% viewed core-plus as key to their domestic strategy, leaving only 2.8% interested in value added – a figure that increased nearly fourfold when examining European strategies.A value-added approach became increasingly more important the further from the domestic market the investment strategy shifted, resulting in only 76% of funds saying core was at the heart of their strategy in the US, falling further to 61% in Asia.Instead, 15.7% of pension funds assets deployed in the US were in value-added strategies, rising to more than one-quarter in the Asian market.Simon Redman, managing director of client portfolio management Europe at Invesco Real Estate, said the interest in value-added was something also found amongst its clients.“We at Invesco have seen steady growth in demand for value-added real estate investments and continue to see significant opportunities in this area – particularly in the US and Asia,” he said.Responses to EIRES also showed a varied approach to listed investments depending on the region to which the pension fund was seeking exposure, resulting in US REITs remaining popular and attracting an average of €1.8bn across the few funds opting for the approach.