The Milwaukee County Employees' Retirement System soon might be on the lookout for a large-cap equity manager following the recent termination of Bear Stearns Asset Management.
The termination of Bear Stearns, which managed $130 million in large-cap equities, was related to recent personnel changes at the company, said Jac Amerell, director of the $1.4 billion fund.
Half of the assets will be parked in an S&P 500 Index fund managed by Mellon until the fund's board decides what to do with the money. The assets could stay with Mellon, which already manages $50 million in S&P 500 indexed funds.
The other half of the assets will go to another existing manager, Boston Partners, which already manages more than $40 million in large-cap value.
Mercer is the fund's consultant.
Voyageur Cos., which is exiting the retail mutual fund business, is considering adding a series of mutual funds for institutional investors only, based on the investment styles managed by the institutional side of its business.
John G. Taft, Voyageur president and chief executive officer, said the company wants to add a mutual fund delivery mechanism to its existing commingled and separate account capabilities. Voyageur's four subsidiaries - Voyageur Asset Management; Clifton Group; Segall Bryant & Hamill; and Voyageur International Asset Managers - would manage the institutional mutual funds.
Voyageur announced plans to sell off its retail fund products, which have $2.8 billion under management, to Lincoln National later this year.
SEARCHES & HIRINGS
El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Colo., has issued RFPs for an investment consultant for the $115 million pension plan that will assist the board in evaluating new real estate investments. The search is part of the pension board's commitment to bid out positions that haven't been out to bid for a long time, said Mike Cherry, plan administrator. RFPs are due Feb. 10 and a decision is expected by the end of March. The current consultant, Mercer, is expected to participate.
Once a new consultant is hired, the board will be looking at making new real estate investments, including REITs. The fund has about $20 million invested in local real estate and plans to sell off those properties, he said.
Philadelphia Municipal Pension Fund trustees are issuing an RFP for a third-party administrator for the city's 457 deferred compensation plan and is seeking managers for seven new investment options, said Joseph J. Herkness, executive director.
The $175 million plan has used Copeland Associates as administrator and is searching to ``see what is out there,'' he said. Copeland's contract expired Dec. 31, but has been extended until the search is completed. Fund officials hope to make a decision by April.
Trustees also hired Dwight Asset Management to run the plan's roughly $125 million stable value investment option, which had been run internally. Officials hope to select providers for an S&P 500 index fund, a U.S. large-cap fund, a U.S. aggressive growth stock fund, a bond fund, and an international equity manager in March. A lifestyle fund and a self-directed brokerage option will be added later.
Charles Machine Works Inc., Perry, Okla., hired one manager and increased the assignment of another for its $75 million combined profit-sharing and ESOP plan, said Michael Stodola, manager-accounting and trust administration. PaineWebber was hired to manage a $10 million balanced portfolio. Goldman Sachs was given an additional $6 million, bringing its total assignment to $11 million, also for a balanced portfolio.
Funding came from Massachusetts Mutual and Diversified Investment Advisors, which were dropped.
New York City Deferred Compensation Plan hired Morgan Grenfell Asset Management to manage $10 million in an intermediate-term bond fund. The $2 billion plan hired the firm to replace Vanguard, whose contract expires June 30, said Lou Porpora, contract supervisor and operations manager. Vanguard took part in the search, but was not a finalist, he said. Mercer assisted.
King Industries Inc., Norwalk, Conn., hired T. Rowe Price to provide bundled investment management and record-keeping services for its $2 million 401(k) plan, said Floyd Wilber, vice president-controller. T. Rowe Price will manage the 10 investment portfolios that will be offered to participants.The plan dropped Smith Barney, which had provided bundled services.
Ann Arbor (Mich.) City Employees' Retirement System named four finalists in its search for a large-cap equity manager. Finalists are: Aeltus Investment Management, Montag and Caldwell, IDS Advisory and GLOBALT. The allocation will be for $35 million. The board might hire two managers instead of one, as originally planned, said Robb Hubbs, retirement administrator for the $300 million pension fund. A decision will be made following interviews on Feb. 13. Callan Associates is assisting
