American Brands
OLD GREENWICH, Conn. - The $800 million American Brands pension trust hired Massachusetts Financial Services to run a small-cap stock portfolio, according to Tony Diaz, director of corporate affairs. He declined to disclose the size of the account or the source of the funds.
No consultant was used.
Boilermaker-Blacksmith fund
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - The $3.3 billion Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust committed $20 million to Equitable Real Estate Investment Management's Value Enhancement Fund.
The fund, a closed-end non-specified pool, targets sellers who are liquidating portfolios at substantial discounts.
British Rail
LONDON - The 9 billion ($13.5 billion) BR Pension Scheme has hired three global bond managers to run 750 million in assets, as part of an asset allocation change, confirmed Peter Stanyer, investment director.
Hired to run global bond portfolios of 250 million each were Mercury Asset Management, CSFB Investment Management and Fischer Francis Trees & Watts.
Prudential Portfolio Managers was dropped as manager of a 900 billion balanced account, most of which was invested in U.K. stocks. During the transition, Mercury Asset sold equity futures and bought bond futures to shift the allocation, while gradually selling off the underlying portfolio.
The remainder of the portfolio was moved into U.K. bonds and index-linked bond portfolios run by existing managers.
Frank Russell International was the consultant.
Cable & Wireless PLC
LONDON - The 730 million ($1.095 billion) Cable & Wireless PLC Superannuation Fund has hired Fleming Investment Management to run a 68 million active U.K. equity portfolio, confirmed Dean Johnson, secretary to the trustees.
The portfolio was transferred from Hill Samuel Investment Management's added value management product, whose performance claims are the subject of an Investment Management Regulatory Organisation inquiry.
Mr. Johnson declined to discuss the reasons for the change.
Watsons Investment Consultancy assisted.
California Employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The $82 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System re-hired Wilshire Associates as general consultant, subject to fee negotiations, said trustee Jake Petrosino.
Trustees also hired Pension Consulting Alliance as consultant for special projects on an as-needed basis. PCA already serves as real estate consultant to the fund through PCA/Kenneth Leventhal. The special project assignment is in addition to the realty work.
Catholic Healthcare West
SAN FRANCISCO - Catholic Healthcare West hired three balanced managers for its $760 million in combined operating, retirement, self-insurance and workers compensation funds, said Jesse Bean, treasurer.
Atalanta Sosnoff and Jurika & Voyles each will run $64 million. Zaske, Sarafa & Associates will run $32 million. Dean Investment Associates had managed the portfolio.
PaineWebber assisted.
Central Newspapers
INDIANAPOLIS - The $185 million defined benefit plan of Central Newspapers Inc. hired Turner Investment Partners to manage $11 million in small-cap equities, said Thomas MacGillivray, director of investments.
Cirrus Logic
FREMONT, Calif. - Cirrus Logic Inc. revamped its more than $15 million 401(k) plan, moving to a daily valued, unbundled approach.
Previously, Columbia Management provided trust services and managed three investment options - money market, balanced and equity funds. Howard Johnson & Co. was the record keeper.
Under the new plan, Howard Johnson continues as record keeper and First Interstate Bank of California will provide trust services. Cirrus selected investment options with the help of consultant, Independent Financial Services.
Steve Lewis, manager-compensation and benefits, said Cirrus selected five mutual fund options from separate providers: an income fund managed by American Funds Group; Vista Capital Management's aggressive small-cap growth equity fund; a growth equity and a growth and income equity fund managed by Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services; and an international equity fund managed by Templeton International.
The fund also offers a pooled GIC fund from IDS Trust. The firm also offers a quantitative fund option, managed by David Rights & Associates, that shifts plan assets between aggressive growth and short-term cash mutual funds managed by AIM Capital Management.
Delta Gamma
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Delta Gamma National Fraternity hired Systematic Financial Management to manage a new endowment fund in a balanced portfolio. Rhonda Cumbow-Miller, the fund's accountant, said the fund so far has attracted $1.2 million, with a five-year fund-raising goal of $5 million. Prudential Securities assisted.
District of Columbia
WASHINGTON - The $2.5 billion District of Columbia Retirement Board hired Provident Capital Management to run a $50 million small-cap value portfolio and Phoenix Investment Management for a $135 million large-cap growth account. Ariel Capital was terminated and a passive equity portfolio with Alliance Capital was reduced to fund the hirings, said Jeanna Cullins, executive director.
Federal Mogul
DETROIT - The $230 million Federal-Mogul Corp. pension fund hired Massachusetts Financial Services to run $30 million in small-cap stocks, its first commitment to the asset class.
SEI assisted.
Florida State Board
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The $36 billion Florida State Board of Administration hired INTECH and Independence Investment Associates to manage domestic enhanced equity index funds.
Ash Williams Jr., executive director, said both firms would structure quantitative equity accounts based on the S&P 500 in "high capacity investment styles, with good risk adjustment." The allocation to each manager is still to be determined and funding for the hires will come from new cash flow. SEI assisted.
General Motors
DETROIT - General Motors Corp. next year will revamp its $10 billion defined contribution plans, offering a wider selection of investment options. William Cowell, director of stock plans, said General Motors hired Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services to provide full record keeping, administrative and investment management services beginning Jan. 1. Mr. Cowell would not elaborate further on which Fidelity mutual funds might be offered to employees or the level of service the plan would require.
General Motors also hired State Street Bank as trustee for the defined contribution plans. Bankers Trust is now the record keeper and trustee.
General Motor's defined contribution plans are presently valued twice per month. Chuck Licari, a GM spokesman, said the company had not determined whether it would move to daily funds valuation with the changes next year. The company is still deciding, said Mr. Licari, whether it will continue to handle employee communications and investment education internally or whether these functions will be outsourced to Fidelity.
Hendrix College
CONWAY, Ark. - The $70 million endowment fund of Hendrix College reduced its balanced portfolio with Scudder Stevens & Clark by $11 million, assigning the money to the Common Fund, said Rodney D. Todd, vice president-fiscal affairs.
The fund allocated $2 million to real estate and $1.5 million to emerging-market equities, its first allocation to either category. In addition, it added $2.5 million to the fund's existing active EAFE-type equity portfolio, raising the total to $3.5 million.
Also, it added $5 million to an existing domestic equities portfolio, more than doubling it to $9 million.
After the changes, made without a consultant, Scudder will manage $31 million in a balanced portfolio.
Honeywell
BRACKNELL, England - The 250 million ($375 million) Honeywell Pension Fund has hired PanAgora Asset Management to provide passive rebalancing for the fund and manage a tactical asset allocation portfolio, said John Thompson, director of financial operations.
The hiring stemmed from an asset-liability model conducted by R. Watson & Sons, a year ago. As a result, Honeywell boosted its equity allocation to 80% from 70% but officials decided they didn't want to exceed significantly the 80% weighting to ensure proper diversification, according to Mr. Thompson.
With Watsons' help, fund officials then picked PanAgora to provide the passive rebalancing. In addition, they hired PanAgora to run a tactical asset allocation overlay for about one-quarter of the fund.
Ironworkers Local 498
ROCKFORD, Ill. - The $20 million pension fund of Ironworkers Local Union 498 invested $3.9 million in the Moderate Strategic Allocation Fund managed by Diversified Investment Advisors.
Funding came from maturing GICs, said Thomas Kisting, plan administrator.
Los Angeles City Employees
LOS ANGELES - The $4 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System hired Wells Fargo Nikko as an S&P 500 index fund manager for a $300 million account, subject to negotiations.
Leejay Inc.
NORWOOD, Mass. - Leejay Inc. selected CoreStates Trust and Investment Group to be trustee, record keeper and investment manager for its $1.4 million 401(k) and profit-sharing plan, said Kenneth Rogers, vice president and chief financial officer.
Formerly Boston Safe Deposit and Trust was the investment manager and ADQ Employee Benefit Consulting was record keeper.
McKesson Corp.
SAN FRANCISCO - The $240 million McKesson Corp. pension fund hired Putnam International, allocating $24 million to a commingled international fund. The Putnam fund can invest up to 20% of assets in emerging international markets, said Lincoln Walworth, director of finance and investments. This was McKesson's first large commitment to international investments. No consultant was used.
Montgomery County Employees
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The $1 billion Montgomery County Employees' Retirement System hired G.T. Capital Management for a $15 million emerging market equities portfolio, said Julie Dellinger, executive director.
The money came from reducing an international bond portfolio managed by J.P. Morgan, which continues to run $20 million.
Oklahoma Law Enforcement
OKLAHOMA CITY - The $261 Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System hired Bank of Ireland Asset Management to manage a $25 million international equity portfolio. Funding will be from a $98 million fixed-income account managed by Munder Capital Management. DeMarche is the consultant.
RJR Nabisco
NEW YORK - RJR Nabisco Inc. revamped its $2.5 billion 401(k) plan, selecting Kwasha Lipton to provide record-keeping, administrative and communication services. Coopers & Lybrand was the previous record keeper. Wachovia Trust was retained as trustee.
Nabisco also revamped its investment options, moving to nine passive options from seven. The new funds are a U.S. equity index fund, which is a combination of the Institutional Index and Index Trust Extended Market Portfolio mutual funds managed by the Vanguard Group; an international equity index fund, a combination of shares from Vanguard's passive Europe and passive Pacific funds; and an interest income fund, with GICs managed by Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services, and indexed fixed-income assets managed by Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco.
Nabisco staff direct the asset allocation of three balanced funds, with conservative, moderate and aggressive risk profiles, which invest proportionally in the other six options.
Kwasha Lipton will provide a toll-free, interactive, voice-response system, which will integrate 401(k), defined benefit and health insurance information in a single system.
Nabisco also moved to daily funds evaluation from monthly, said Gerald I. Angowitz, vice president-human relations and deputy head HR and administration.
San Francisco City & County
SAN FRANCISCO - The $6.1 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System signed contracts with AMB Institutional Realty and RREEF to invest up to $100 million each in a new, opportunistic strategy.
The real estate managers may purchase any type of property, but must present a rationale for each purchase, said Clare Murphy, chief executive officer.
Townsend assisted in designing the strategy and selecting managers.
San Jose Federated
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Trustees for the $600 million San Jose Federated City Employees Retirement System have selected a new custodian, Bank of New York, replacing Bankers Trust, said Edward F. Overton, secretary-board of administration.
San Jose Police & Fire
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The $840 million San Jose Police & Fire Department Retirement Plan selected new emerging equity managers: Galleon Capital, Seneca, Woodford Capital and Apodaca-Johnston Capital Management. They will be given $10 million each, pending final negotiations.
Tennessee Consolidated
NASHVILLE - Boston Safe Deposit Co. was hired as the master trustee and global custodian for the $13 billion defined benefit plan of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System. Boston Safe also will assume trust and custody duties for the $140 million Tennessee state university's endowment fund, called the Chairs of Excellence.
Chuck Webb, chief investment officer, said the Tennessee funds will outsource for the first time investment accounting duties. Boston Safe also will perform securities lending services, which the system has employed for some time with its previous trustee, Chase Manhattan Bank.
Mr. Webb said officials of the Tennessee plan had been satisfied with the services of Chase Manhattan, but was required by state law to put the bid out to tender. "We decided to change master trustees mainly because we could get the same services for less," he said.
Texas Permanent School Fund
AUSTIN, Texas - The $11.7 billion Texas Permanent School Fund hired William M. Mercer to perform an asset allocation study and help develop a strategic plan for the internally managed fund, said Carlos Resendez, chief investment officer.
TRINOVA Corp.
MAUMEE, Ohio - TRINOVA Corp. hired Vanguard Group to manage bundled services for its $400 million 401(k) plan, dropping two money managers and a record keeper, said Patricia A. Krakos, director-benefit planning and administration.
Vanguard will manage eight funds, including the four it already managed for the plan, and will become the record keeper.
TRINOVA, which did the search in-house, dropped Brinson Partners, which ran a multiple asset portfolio; Ryan Labs, which ran a government securities portfolio; and Hazlehurst and Associates.
Ms. Krakos said asset allocation figures weren't available.
The company will save $400,000 in administrative costs by moving to a bundled approach, she said.
The new funds Vanguard will offer are: the Star asset allocation portfolio, a Treasury securities money market fund, and a long-term corporate bond portfolio. In addition, Vanguard will assume management of a stable-value fixed-income fund that had been run in-house. The plan will retain the TRINOVA stock option.
The Vanguard funds the plan is retaining are: the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fund, the Windsor II equity fund, the Morgan growth equities fund and an international growth equities fund.
Northern Trust was retained as trustee.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
WASHINGTON - The $53 million U.S. Chamber of Commerce Pension Fund terminated INVESCO MIM, distributing the assets to two new managers.
Putnam Investments will replace INVESCO as a core growth equity manager, getting $14 million. Pacific Income Advisors will manage a $21 million fixed-income portfolio.
The chamber terminated INVESCO to vary its investment strategy and because of performance, said Roy Fletcher, vice president of finance.
Washington State
OLYMPIA, Washington - The $20 billion Washington State Investment Board, Olympia, has hired five international equities managers, all for regional accounts of still-to-be-determined size.
Clay Finlay and UBS International Investment, will manage European equities accounts. G.T. Capital Management, J.P. Morgan Investment Management and Dunedin Fund Managers, will run Pacific Basin equities accounts.
New hires are subject to final fee and contract agreements.
Wilmington Pension System
WILMINGTON, Del. - The $73 million Wilmington Pension System hired NCM Capital Management to manage $6 million in a balanced fund, said Maria Jones, pension coordinator. The money had been run by COMPU-VAL Investments. Ms. Jones declined to say why the fund changed managers. Pierce Park Group assisted.
YMCA of Greater Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Scrapping its in-house management, the $7.2 million endowment of the YMCA of Greater Buffalo hired three balanced managers, said Deborah A. Ogorzaly, controller and chief fiscal officer.
Boston Security Counsellors and Kidder Peabody Asset Management each will run 40% of the endowment; Harold C. Brown Co. will run 20%.
