Attleboro Retirement
ATTLEBORO, Mass. - The $25 million Attleboro Municipal Contributory Retirement System picked Segal Advisors as its first consultant, said Richard V. Boucher, city treasurer and trustee.
Segal's first task will be to conduct an asset allocation study for the system, Mr. Boucher said. The consultant will "take a look (at the allocation) and see if they can come up with something that would do better."
The fund's current allocation is about 32% in government securities, 24% in corporate bonds, 42% in equities and 2% in cash equivalents.
Bristol County Retirement
TAUNTON, Mass. - The $110 million Bristol County Retirement System hired Freedom Capital to run $50 million in equities. The portfolio formerly was managed by BayBanks. Freedom has discretion to tilt the portfolio's weight toward either growth or value stocks, depending on market conditions.
The fund is close to choosing a general consultant. It has interviewed finalists but board members have not yet met to discuss the candidates.
City of Brockton
BROCKTON, Mass. - The $90 million City of Brockton Contributory Retirement System hired Metric Realty to run approximately $1 million in residential real estate.
Assets for the hiring came from cash flow.
California Bankers Association
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Bankers Association hired First Interstate Bank to provide a bundled 401(k) plan service program for member banks.
Nine diversified mutual fund investment options will be offered in the program - a combination of First Interstate's proprietary funds and funds from other money managers, said Christopher Chenowith, a senior vice president at the association. First Interstate will provide daily valued record keeping, trust and administration services, employee investment education and communication.
Two of the 24 banks using the association's program converted to the new First Interstate program Oct. 1. The rest of the plans, including the association's own employee 401(k) plan, will convert to the new program Jan. 1.
The association's old program provides four investment options, none of which will be retained.
The previous record keeper was Administrative Systems, which recently was purchased by the Capital Management Group.
ConAgra Inc.
OMAHA, Neb. - ConAgra Inc. chose State Street Bank & Trust Co. as custodian for $1.5 billion in assets in its defined benefit and 401(k) plans, replacing Northern Trust. ConAgra decided to move back to State Street, which had been its custodian from 1985 to 1992, because it wanted to address "service issues" related to merging the plans of other companies acquired through mergers, said Donald Winters, director of employee benefits. The search was done in-house, no other searches are planned.
Crown Crafts Inc.
CALHOUN, Ga. - Crown Crafts Inc. will introduce a new, unbundled 401(k) plan Jan. 1 for its 2,500 employees, said Bonnie Wasdin, director of human resources. Investment management will be provided by Reiser, Builder & Douglas, which will manage a stable value and an aggressive growth fund. Reiser, Builder also will construct and manage four lifecycle funds that will invest in the mutual funds available through the fund alliance of the plan's record keeper, Buck Consultants. Crown Crafts company stock also will be available within the 401(k) plan. The plan will be valued quarterly.
Consultant Taylor & Co. assisted.
Denver Employees
DENVER - The $870 million Denver Employees Retirement Plan selected Seix Investment Advisors and Pinnacle Investment Advisors to manage fixed-income portfolios of $10 million each, according to a fund spokeswoman. Funding will come from a portfolio managed by Cisneros Asset Management, which closed earlier this year. Other finalists were LM Capital and Taplin, Canida & Habacht.
Callan Associates was the consultant.
Detroit General Retirement
DETROIT - The General Retirement System of the City of Detroit hired two large-cap value managers, GLOBALT and MacKay-Shields, for $25 million each. Joe Glanton, assistant administrator for the $2 billion fund, declined to say how the new managers would be funded. New England Pension Consultants assisted.
Detroit Policemen & Firemen
DETROIT - The $2.4 billion Detroit Policemen & Firemen Retirement System hired six managers to run $355 million, said Nicholas Degel, assistant administrative supervisor.
For global fixed income, the system hired Kemper Investment Management and John Hancock for $80 million each; for global equity, trustees hired Morgan Stanley for $70 million.
Hired for mortgage-backed securities were TCW and Hyperion Capital for $57.5 million each, and Pugh Capital Management for $10 million.
The searches were handled by new consultant Rogers Casey.
Trustees are watching closely the fund's $90 million allocation to managed futures, he said. The overall performance of its four managed futures managers has been "fair," Mr. Degel added.
Florida Steel Corp.
TAMPA, Fla. - Florida Steel Corp. hired Hewitt Associates as general consultant for its $75 million defined benefit plan, said Gordon Gunsler, treasurer. Hewitt replaces SEI Capital Resources, which was placed on the block last summer by its parent company, SEI Corp. No other searches are planned.
Frankenmuth Mutual
FRANKENMUTH, Mich. - Frankenmuth Mutual Insurance Co. hired T. Rowe Price to provide bundled services for its $12 million defined contribution plan, effective Jan. 1. Seven diversified T. Rowe Price mutual funds will be offered. T. Rowe Price also will provide trust and administrative services, daily valued record keeping, an automated voice-response system, employee communications and investment education.
Frankenmuth previously used an internal record-keeping system. Two existing GIC contracts will continue as plan options until they mature, said Allen C. Luther, the company's treasurer. Two existing investment options, managed by Equitable and Vanguard, will be dropped.
Asset Strategies Portfolio Services assisted.
C. Lloyd Johnson Co. Inc.
NORFOLK, Va. - C. Lloyd Johnson Co. Inc. hired T. Rowe Price to provide a fully bundled service for its 401(k) plan and act as investment manager and trustee for its pension plan. The plans have combined assets of $14 million.
Formerly, the plans had an unbundled approach, with NationsBank providing trust, administration and record keeping and two money managers providing investment services: Kanawha Capital and Wedge Capital.
Now, the 401(k) plan's 300 participants will be able to choose from 10 investment options ranging from a stable value fund to T. Rowe Price Science & Technology. The plan will be valued daily.
Los Angeles Fire & Police
LOS ANGELES - The $6.5 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System has hired Boston Partners Asset Management to manage a $500 million core value equity allocation. The assets were part of an allocation of $650 million previously managed by Boston Co. Asset Management, which was terminated when several managers left to start Boston Partners.
Watson Wyatt Worldwide assisted.
Louisiana State Employees
BATON ROUGE, La. - The $3.8 billion Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System hired JMC Capital Management to run a $60 million small-cap growth portfolio, said James O. Wood, executive director. The fund also added $65 million to an existing small-cap growth equity portfolio run by TCW, bringing its total to $140 million.
Funding for both managers came from the $125 million equity portfolio formerly managed by Investment Advisers Inc.
New England Pension Consultants assisted.
Michigan Municipal Employees
LANSING, Mich. - The $1.9 billion Michigan Municipal Employees' Retirement System hired ARM Capital Advisors, Western Asset Management and Reams Asset Management. Each will manage a $165 million domestic fixed-income allocation each, said a spokeswoman for the fund.
They replace two other fixed-income managers for the fund, CSI Asset Management and Boston Co. Asset Management. CSI was terminated when it was absorbed by Prudential Global Advisors. Boston Co. was terminated for performance reasons
A Boston Co. spokeswoman said the company won't comment on clients.
No other searches are planned. Merrill Lynch Consulting Services assisted.
Middlesex County Retirement
EAST CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The $310 million Middlesex County Retirement System hired Mellon Bank as its custodian, replacing BayBanks. The change was made because the fund wanted a bank with strong international capabilities, according to Jack Walsh, executive director.
New England Funds selected four investment managers to subadvise a new global mutual fund, the New England Star Worldwide Fund: Michael Gerding of Founders Asset Management; Helen Young Hayes of Janus Capital; Josephine S. Jimenez and Bryan L. Sudweeks of Montgomery Asset Management; and two separate portfolios at Harris Associates, a New England subsidiary - one non-U.S. portfolio run by David Herro and Michael Welsh and a mostly domestic portfolio run by Robert Sanborn.
Each portfolio will receive 20% of new cash; redemptions also will be allocated equally.
NFL Players Association
WASHINGTON - The $500 million pension fund for the NFL Players Association hired Numeric Investors to manage a $22 million small-cap equity account, said Mickey Yaris-Davis, director of benefits.
The money to fund the account came from Ariel Capital Management, which was terminated because of poor performance, said Ms. Yaris-Davis.
Oklahoma Public Employees
OKLAHOMA City - The $2.6 billion Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System hired Strategic Investment Solutions as its new investment consultant. Strategic replaces SEI. Steve Edmonds, executive director of the pension fund, said Strategic will conduct an asset review before initiating any manager searches next year.
Other finalists were Mercer and Holbein.
Philadelphia Municipal
PHILADELPHIA - Trustees of the $2.1 billion Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund hired Pension Consulting Alliance as real estate consultant, said David Volpe, the city controller's representative to the board of trustees.
PCA replaces The Townsend Group, which resigned, sTownsend Group, which resigned, said Mr. Volpe.
Rhode Island Retirement
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The $4 billion Rhode Island Retirement Systems approved an investment of up to $10 million in the OCM Opportunities Fund, a limited partnership managed by Oaktree Capital Management. The fund will invest in distressed debt, said spokesman Steve Klamkin.
Mr. Klamkin said assets will come from a 5% alternative investment allocation previously approved by the fund.
Charles Schwab & Co.
SAN FRANCISCO - Charles Schwab & Co. selected Symphony Asset Management to manage three asset allocation mutual funds - conservative growth, balanced growth and high growth.
These asset allocation funds are the first stock and bond funds offered by Schwab, which to date has sponsored only money market funds.
Steeltech Manufacturing
MILWAUKEE - Steeltech Manufacturing Inc., Milwaukee, introduced a 401(k) plan for its 250 employees Oct. 1. Strong Capital Management's retirement plan services division was hired to provide bundled, daily valued service for the plan, including investment management, trust and administration, an automated voice-response system, employee communication and investment education. Six diversified Strong mutual funds are offered to employees, said Jim Zimmerman, vice president-finance and administration.
The company is matching 25% of the employee's contribution, up to 4% of salary deferral.
Transit Police Retirement
WASHINGTON - Trustees of the $26 million Transit Police Retirement Plan, Washington, hired two managers - Woodford Capital Management for $8 million in growth stocks and Voyageur Asset Management for $8 million in core fixed income, said Charles Ullmann, chairman of the board of trustees. The money will come from Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co., which was terminated for poor performance.
Duff & Phelps Senior Vice President Robert Schank was unavailable for comment.
Segal Advisors assisted.
Transport Workers
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. - The $100 million-plus Transport Workers Union-Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority Employees' Pension Trust hired Loomis Sayles and Amivest to manage domestic growth equity portfolios, said Joan Engert, fund manager. Loomis will manage $21 million; Amivest, $6 million. Assets will come from a maturing GIC with The New England.
Reynolds Securities is the consultant.
Troutman Sanders
ATLANTA - Troutman Sanders L.L.P. hired First Union National Bank of Georgia, to provide bundled services for its $23 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan.
First Union, which has been providing quarterly record keeping for the plan in an unbundled format, will take over much of the investment management of the plan, as well as a move to daily valuation.
Five First Union/Evergreen mutual funds will be offered, along with two funds from Fidelity Investments, one from Janus, and one from Templeton.
First Union also will provide an automated voice-response system, employee communications and investment education, and continue as the plan's trustee.
The plan will be fully converted to the new program by April 1, said Stanley Hackett, a partner in the law firm. The plan now offers a First Union Money Market fund, which will be discontinued.
The plan's other two options - a balanced fund and a fixed-income collective trust, both managed by Mowell Financial - also are being dropped.
Woolworth Corp.
NEW YORK - Woolworth Corp., New York, hired Scudder Stevens & Clark to provide bundled investment management and record keeping for a new 401(k) plan. The plan starts Jan. 1.