Alaska Permanent Fund
JUNEAU, Alaska - The $14 billion Alaska Permanent Fund hired Secondary Market Acquisition of Realty Trust to purchase up to $50 million of mature commingled real estate fund shares from other institutional investors.
Fund officials said in a statement the move will "increase both our investment diversity and our position in certain commingled funds at a time when pricing (of them) can be attractive."
SMART is a joint venture between Liquidity Financial Group and Saylor Property Capital.
Arizona Schools for Deaf, Blind
TUCSON - The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind hired Capstone Asset Management to run its $1.6 million trust fund in a balanced account, according to Nancy Lines, purchasing agent.
The fund had been managed by an individual in Tucson until the assignment was put out for bid.
California Public Employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The $80 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System made four new commitments to existing partners in its California single-family housing program, in which they have invested $848 million.
The new commitments are: Hearthstone Housing Partners for 114 homes in the Sacramento-Lakeshore area; Institutional Housing Partners for 61 homes in the Vacaville-Solano County area; and a Bankers Trust/Alex. Brown Kleinwort Benson venture for 74 homes in the Williamsburg-San Marcos area and 132 homes in the Scripps Ranch-San Diego area.
Chicago Transit Authority
CHICAGO - The $1.3 billion defined benefit plan of the Chicago Transit Authority Employees' Retirement System hired two international managers to actively manage the fund's first MSCI EAFE equity funds. Bank of Ireland Asset Management and Morgan Stanley Asset Management will split a $50 million allocation.
Daniel R. Perk, the fund's executive director, would not disclose the amount each manager will receive. Funding for the hires will come from reduced allocations to domestic equity managers; Mr. Perk did not identify which managers will be affected by reallocations.
Cyprus Amax Minerals
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. hired Callan to perform a major asset/liability study in conjunction with combining the $120 million defined benefit plans of Cyprus Minerals Co. with the $90 million AMAX Inc. plan.
The two companies merged in 1993.
Ruthann C. Moomy, manager-benefits funding, said the first task is to determine the assets and liabilities for salaried employees of ALUMAX, which was spun off from AMAX prior to the merger. Assets will be transferred to the new company, and asset allocation for the ALUMAX plan will be determined by that company's new management.
A new asset allocation also will be decided on for the merged plans; existing managers will be reviewed; and new managers will be added if necessary. The restructuring should be complete by the end of the second quarter.
Fetzer Memorial Trust
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The $36 million Fetzer Memorial Trust hired Putnam Institutional Management to run a global fixed-income portfolio of at least $2.5 million, said Lou Leeburg, treasurer. Funding for the account, which is the trust's first foray into global bonds, came from cash flow, he said.
General American Life
ST. LOUIS - General American Life Insurance Co. hired Franklin Research & Development to manage a socially responsible domestic equity account starting Feb. 1. Franklin will use five environmental and social screens in managing the separate account, which will be available as part of General American Life's bundled 401(k) service or as an investment-only, institutional fund choice.
IES Industries
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The $30 million employee savings plan of IES Industries Inc. retained IDS Institutional Retirement Services to provide daily funds valuation.
Previously, IDS served as the fund's record keeper, providing monthly valuation. IDS also provides other bundled 401(k) services, including five diversified mutual funds, employee education and trust services, said Larry Duncan, a company spokesman.
Investment Fund
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Investment Fund for Foundations named its roster of money managers to run five no-load mutual funds to be offered to private and community foundations.
U.S. equity fund managers hired are: Aronson+Fogler; Eagle Capital; First Quadrant; Investment Research; Jacobs, Levy; Kayne, Anderson; Martingale; Palo Alto Investors; Turner Investment; and Westport Asset.
International equity fund managers are: Delaware International; Harding, Loevner; Marathon; and Warburg Investment Management. Emerging markets fund managers are: BEA; Blairlogie; Emerging Markets Management; and Genesis.
Fischer Francis Trees & Watts and Smith Breeden Associates will work for the bond and short-term funds; Atlantic Asset Management and Seix Investment Advisors, bonds only.
Kansas City Public School
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The $375 million Kansas City Public School Retirement System is investing $3 million in Metropolitan Life's Tower Fund, said Gerald Hast, executive secretary.
Assets for the real estate fund came from a previous realty investment with Met Life that matured in December 1992.
Asset Consulting Group assisted.
Longview Firefighters
LONGVIEW, Texas - The $13 million Longview Firefighters Relief & Retirement Fund hired the Consulting Group of Rauscher Pierce Refsnes to help the system develop a written investment policy, said David Burrows, secretary.
Maine State Retirement
AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine State Retirement System hired William M. Mercer as consultant to a special commission created by the governor and Legislature to study the system.
Robert Monks, chairman of the commission, said the panel is investigating whether the underfunded system should switch to a defined contribution arrangement and should join the Social Security system.
Marlborough School
LOS ANGELES - The approximately $11 million Marlborough School Endowment Fund hired GMG/Seneca Capital Management to manage a growth with controlled risk equities account of undisclosed size. Cambridge Associates was the consultant.
Montgomery County
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The $1.2 billion Montgomery County Employees' Retirement System reduced its holdings in domestic small-cap stocks to $65 million from $80 million, said Julie Dellinger, executive director. Kennedy Capital, which replaced T. Rowe Price, has been given $30 million; UBS Securities has the remaining $35 million.
The county also increased its exposure to international equities to 6% of assets, up from 4%, and reduced its exposure to international bonds to 4% of assets from 5%, said Julie Dellinger, executive director.
As a result, the fund's two international equities managers, Lazard Freres and G.T. Capital Management got an additional $11 million each on top of the $20 million each they already were managing.
The fund also has withdrawn $20 million in non-U.S. bonds from Payden and Rygel, but the firm still manages $85 million in domestic stocks. J.P. Morgan will continue to manage $48 million in international bonds.
MSI Insurance
ST. PAUL, Minn. - MSI Insurance selected three funds from Vanguard and one from Scudder, Stevens & Clark as investment options for its 800 bundled 401(k) clients, which have about $200 million in assets. The options are the result of a switch to daily valued mutual funds. Terminated were Investment Advisers, Duff & Phelps and Stein Roe & Farnham.
Muskegon Employees
MUSKEGON, Mich. - The approximately $20 million Muskegon Employees' Retirement System, and the $30 million Muskegon Policemen's & Firemen's Retirement Fund together hired ICMA Retirement Corp. as a growth stock manager for $5 million, said Timothy J. Paul, director of finance for both funds. Duff & Phelps, which had been the fund's sole manager, continues to manage the remainder of the assets.
New York State United Teachers
ALBANY, N.Y. - The $100 million New York State United Teachers' Employees Retirement Fund hired Scudder, Stevens & Clark as its first international equities manager. The fund is investing $10 million in Scudder's commingled international pool. Segal Advisors assisted.
Northeastern University
BOSTON - The $225 million Northeastern University endowment hired Standish, Ayer & Wood to run $20 million in a long-short hedge fund strategy, according to Joseph Murphy, assistant treasurer.
Richard Fontaine & Associates, which had managed $3.5 million, was terminated. Additional funding for the hedge fund came from reducing other portfolios run by Standish, Ayer.
Rose Health Care
DENVER - Rose Health Care Systems, Denver, shuffled about $10 million in fixed-income assets, said Steven Anderson, corporate cash manager.
PIMCO was hired as a short-duration bond manager; Trust Co. of the West, mortgage-backed securities; and Putnam Institutional, global bonds.
Short-duration portfolios run by Federated Investors, Putnam and Franklin Resources were terminated. A Treasury reserve portfolio run by Delaware Investment was retained.
Rose has about $60 million in investible assets. Monticello Associates assisted.
Rhode Island Retirement
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The $3.3 billion Rhode Island Retirement Systems hired Scudder, Stevens & Clark to manage about $92.5 million in Pacific Rim equities and Dunedin Fund Managers to manage about $84 million in international small-cap equity. Wilshire assisted.
San Diego County
SAN DIEGO - The $1.8 billion San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association has, pending final contract negotiations, selected three managed futures managers: Kenmar Investment Advisers, Hart-Bornhoft Group and Monmouth Capital Management, a source said. The amount each manager will oversee wasn't available.
The county fund also hired Loomis Sayles to manage an international equity option overwriting program for about $200 million, said Richard Rose, chief investment officer.
The firm had been providing options overwriting on the fund's entire $800 million domestic equity portfolio, and "we decided to implement the same strategy on the international side. It's a good viable, value-added strategy to have," Mr. Rose said.
Unlike the domestic strategy, which uses exchange-listed options, the international program will rely on over-the-counter options, reflecting the fund's large concentration of smaller capitalization international stocks, he said.
San Francisco SPCA
SAN FRANCISCO - The $22 million endowment of the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hired GMG/Seneca Capital Management for a $7.2 million balanced account, confirmed Rick Diricson, foundation treasurer. No other information was available.
South Dakota Employees
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The $74 million South Dakota Employees Retirement Plan, and the $28 million Firemen's Pension Fund hired ICMA Retirement to manage a total of $1.4 million in a balanced fund, said Tom Huber, pension analyst for both funds. No managers were terminated. Davies Investment Associates assisted.
Teamsters, Central States
ROSEMONT, Ill. - The $12.9 billion Teamsters, Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund hired seven managers and added an allocation for another, through its named fiduciary, Morgan Stanley Group, federal court documents show.
New hires, for undisclosed amounts, are: PanAgora; Oak Associates; FX Concepts; Oechsle International; Pictet International; Genesis Asset; and Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Brinson Partners, which was first hired by Central States last year for a growth stock portfolio, was given an additional unspecified portfolio.
