Trustees for the $460 million Chicago Park Employees' Annuity &...

Trustees for the $460 million Chicago Park Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund probably will launch a search for an active international equity manager after it completes a current search for minority and women-owned firms, said Joseph Fratto, executive director. The Chicago Park District had first considered the international search early last year but temporarily shelved it. The fund already has $10 million in indexed international equities with ANB Investment Management, he said. A search for two to three minority or women-owned managers should be completed in March, he said. The fund plans on investing a total of $25 million, and currently has two managers running $10 million. The fund's two incumbents, Abacus Financial and Holland Capital, may or may not be retained. Ennis Knupp is assisting. Trust Co. of the West signed a joint venture agreement with Berkeley Quantitative Advisors to manage a new enhanced domestic index strategy. Financial terms were not disclosed. BQA will manage the index product, which will be built by selecting 250 to 350 issues from the S&P 500 through a quantitative analysis of 26 proprietary factors. TCW will oversee the marketing and administrative support for the product, which it will offer to clients as one of its domestic equity strategies. The money management industry is consolidating, but it won't turn into the extreme two-tier structure some observers are predicting by the end of the century, according to Norton Reamer, president of United Asset Management. In a speech before the Boston Securities Analysts Society today, Mr. Reamer said such rapid consolidation would require a pace of mergers and acquisitions that is beyond the industry's ability to handle without backfiring. Mr. Reamer argued megamanagers are not necessarily better at attracting better staff or better performance. And because performance is achieved by individuals or small groups of investment managers, firms of all sizes will continue to prosper, he said. UAM is trying to create economies of scale in client service and distribution for its affiliates, said Mr. Reamer.