WSJ : "Türkiye pension fund OYAK looks abroad"

The Wall Street Journal Europe - The Turkish army pension plan is plotting an international strategy that could see the $7.8 billion fund replicate its bold domestic investment tactic of taking controlling stakes in Turkish companies that grant it management control. The fund, Ordu Yardimlasma Kurumu, known as Oyak, is the country’s largest nonstate-run pension plan. The fund returned 46% a year on average from 2000 to 2006, compared with 14% for the Istanbul stock market. Oyak’s diverse domestic equity holdings include subsidiaries in the cement- and- concrete sector, an automotive-manufacturing and distribution joint venture with French car maker Renault SA, and a 49% stakeholding in the Iskenderun Enerji power plant. Oyak also owns 49% of Eregli Demir ve Celik Fabrikalari, or Erdemir, the largest flat- steel producer in Türkiye... Today, the fund is discussing European investment options in a bid for higher returns, looking at infrastructure investments and mines that may provide raw materials for its steelmaking venture.