CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The $3 billion West Virginia State Board of Investments will use a new investment study of the board as a basis to lobby for a change in investment laws.
The board hired Bear Stearns Fiduciary Services to conduct an overall study of the board and its investment practices that is due by mid-December.
Craig Slaughter, executive director, said board members asked for the study because they believe the investment laws are inadequate. State pension law now allows the board to invest only in fixed income.
The study also will examine the roles of the staff and trustees.
ROCKVILLE, Md. - The investment committee of the $1.1 billion Montgomery County Employees' Retirement System plans to review its long-term asset allocation targets at its November meeting and discuss whether the fund should move toward increasing its exposure to domestic equities.
The fund is 14 percentage points below its target domestic equity allocation of 46%.
Julie Dellinger, executive director, said there is concern that being so underweighted in domestic equities could jeopardize the long-term rate of return, but there also is concern whether now is the right time to increase market exposure.
Ms. Dellinger also said the fund plans to hire an investment analyst by the end of this year. The analyst will help officials of the pension fund monitor the investment program.
CINCINNATI - The $1.2 billion Cincinnati Retirement System plans to take a hard look at its managers in the first quarter of 1995, with an eye toward reducing their number and consolidating assignments, said Frank Dawson, finance director and secretary.
The consolidation would be based on performance "because they've been through a market cycle, or have been around long enough," he said.
The fund has 13 managers, although three - Ark Asset Management, Oppenheimer Capital and Investment Counselors of Maryland - run 75% of fund assets in balanced funds.
Smith Barney, the fund's performance monitoring consultant, will assist in the review, which Mr. Dawson said would take at least until March or April.
SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The $55 million defined benefit plan of Bucyrus-Erie Co. is in the midst of adopting a broader investment policy and conducting an asset allocation study, said Jerrold M. Thorne, director-benefits and compensation, and John Bosbous, assistant treasurer.
The allocation study will help determine how the plan will reinvest a maturing GIC, which has 25% of the plan's total assets.
The new investment policy will enable the plan to invest in more areas, including its first move to international. Also, the policy study is considering diversifying its domestic equities, now run in similar defensive value styles by BEA Associates and Cooke & Bieler.
The new investment policy and asset allocation study are expected to be finished by December. At that time, officials will decide how to invest the proceeds of the $14 million GIC, issued by Metropolitan Life, that matures later this year.
Allbright & Hart is assisting in both the GIC and policy issues.
CHICAGO - Trustees for the $5.2 billion Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund of Chicago are considering increasing the international allocation to about 8% of their portfolio from its current level of less than 5%, said Mary Sharon Reilly, president.
James Ward, executive director of the fund, said the trustees are exploring the possibility, although the fund has a legal constraint as to how much can go into international.
William M. Mercer is assisting.
BALTIMORE - The Maryland Teachers & State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans is considering adding an aggressive equity fund to its employee-directed defined contribution plans, with combined assets of $600 million, said Moses Daniels, director-finance.
He expects the board to make a decision this month. If approved, the plans would commence a search.
The plans - a 457, 403(b) and 401(k) plan - have 60% of their total assets in domestic equities, all through the same nine mutual fund choices, offered by eight different mutual fund companies. The other 40% of the assets are in fixed income.
LOS ANGELES - The $14 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association has decided to reduce the amount of money held by its existing large-cap growth stock manager, Stein Roe & Farnham, to $400 million from $550 million.
The $150 million will be placed with its index fund manager, Bankers Trust.
The reduction came as a result of concerns by trustees of the fund over investment performance.
Also, the fund is studying the feasibility of using currency overlay and a third-party securities lending manager. The study isn't expected to be completed until next April.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The staff at the $222 million University of Alabama endowment selected managers for international fixed income and domestic small-cap value equities, said Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, vice chancellor-financial affairs.
It will recommend the board hire the managers, which she wouldn't identify, at its meeting in November.
The fund plans to allocate $5 million to the small-cap manager. It hasn't decided how much it will allocate initially to the international bond manager, although ultimately it will be 10% of the fund.
Dahab Associates assisted.
In addition, the fund retained Kenneth P. Strickland, who retired this month as assistant vice chancellor-finance, as a consultant on investments. Ms. Flaherty-Goldsmith said Mr. Strickland, who had reported to her, won't be replaced immediately.
BOSTON - The proceeds from a $2.2 million bond issue purchased by the $7.7 billion Massachusetts State Teachers and Employees Retirement System will be used to renovate a Boston public-housing project and finance its conversion to tenant ownership, state Treasurer Joseph Malone announced.
The purchase is part of the retirement system's economically targeted investments program. The bonds were issued by the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency.
According to Mr. Malone, the bonds will earn a 9.15% rate of interest and are rated AAA by Standard & Poor's Rating Group.
BRISBANE, Australia - The approximately $650 million (Australian) Queensland Local Government Superannuation Fund will begin a complete asset allocation review early next year. The fund is going through an actuarial evaluation and wants to ensure assets and liabilities are matched, explained Peter Smith, secretary and executive officer. The fund hasn't undertaken such a review in five years, Mr. Smith said.
During that time, assets have increased sharply. He said fund officials will seek outside help with the review, but from whom hasn't been decided.
CHICAGO - Frank Russell and the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries agreed to transfer sole responsibility for the Russell-NCREIF Property Index to NCREIF. Richard Gaskins, NCREIF executive director, said the decision to take over the index is part of the evolution of the organization.
The transition is expected to be completed sometime next year, and the Russell name will be removed from the index.
Russell collects, calculates and publishes the results that appear in the index.
NCREIF members contribute the data. Russell's functions eventually will be transferred to NCREIF, which will hire and train a staff to manage the index.
SAN FRANCISCO - Bank of America consolidated most of its investment subsidiaries into one unit, Bank of America Capital Management, said Keith Wirtz, senior vice president and CIO.
In addition, Bank of America hired an institutional sales staff to market its money management services to institutional clients. The unit also will market the services of Continental Bank's old investment management subsidiary, now known as Bank of America Investment Advisors in Chicago, which is not a part of the consolidation, according to Mr. Wirtz.
"We want to present a unified approach" to the institutional community, Mr. Wirtz said.
Ernst & Young National Real Estate Advisory Services, Saylor Property Capital and Liquidity Financial Group have formed Institutional Realty Resources Inc. to provide single-source real estate advisory and consulting services for institutional investors.
IRR will make assessments of an investor's real estate portfolio and recommend if it should be a buyer or seller and, in the case of buying, recommend the form the purchase should take.
Saylor Property Capital is a real estate consulting firm, Liquidity Financial Group's expertise is in public market real estate and limited partnerships, and Ernst & Young specializes in real estate operations and valuations.
HONG KONG - Stanford Management Co., Harvard Management Co. and the endowment of the University of Michigan are among the 15 investors in the new $261 million Prudential Asia Private Equity Limited Partnership of Prudential Asset Management Asia Ltd., Hong Kong, said Tim Biggs, a spokesman for Prudential.
Prudential is investing $50 million in the fund. Mr. Biggs would not say how much each of the outside investors committed.
The fund will purchase equity stakes in small to midsized private enterprises in the Asia-Pacific region.
