Air Canada
MONTREAL - The C$3.6 billion (U.S. $2.6 billion) pension plan of Air Canada selected CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services as its new custodian and trustee, replacing Montreal Trust for Canadian assets and Royal Trust for non-Canadian assets. This is the first major custodial contract for CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services, the Canadian institutional trust and custody venture of Mellon Bank Corp. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
AMR Investment Services
FORT WORTH, Texas - AMR Investment Services hired Brandywine Asset Management as an active investment adviser for its $992 million American AAdvantage Growth and Income Fund and its $865 million American AAdvantage Balanced Fund. Brandywine replaces Capital Guardian Trust and becomes the fifth subadviser for each fund.
William F. Quinn, president of AMR Investment Services, which oversees the AMR mutual fund group, said Brandywine was added to help improve the overall management structure of the two mutual funds. The other four fund managers are Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss; GSB Investment Management; Hotchkis and Wiley; and Independence Investment Associates.
Army and Air Force Exchange
DALLAS - The $110 million 401(k) plan of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service is adding two investment options, the Fidelity Emerging Growth Fund and Fidelity Bond Index Fund. The plan now will have eight options, all from bundled service provider Fidelity, said Mimi Sauers, chief of investments and administration.
Austin Employees
AUSTIN, Texas - The $750 million Austin Employees Retirement & Pension Fund retained incumbent large-capitalization growth manager Lynch & Mayer after conducting a lengthy search for a replacement. Merle Wilkins, pension director, said the search was initiated because executives had expressed questions about performance in the $140 million portfolio.
Other finalists in the search, conducted internally, were Siphron Capital, Alliance and Chancellor.
Bell Atlantic
PHILADELPHIA - The $13.5 billion pension plan of Bell Atlantic Corp. named Bankers Trust and Kwasha Lipton to handle record keeping for the new cash balance retirement plan for management employees.
Kwasha Lipton will provide record keeping and Bankers Trust will handle trust and participant services.
They already provide those services for Bell Atlantic's DC plan. Mellon remains as the trustee for the defined benefit plan for salaried employees. Mellon previously handled some of the routine paperwork for the plan, while the company handled the administration of the pension fund in-house, according to a Bell Atlantic spokesman.
Boehringer Ingelheim Corp.
RIDGEFIELD, Conn. - Boehringer Ingelheim Corp. chose the Putnam New Opportunities Fund as an option in its $180 million defined contribution plan, confirmed James Williams, director, treasury services. Mr. Williams declined to provide additional information.
According to The 1996 Money Market Directory, Boehringer Ingelheim had two managers for its DC plan: Fiduciary Capital Management for GICs and BICs and Principal Financial Group for pooled bonds and equities.
Cambridge Retirement System
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The $240 million-plus Cambridge Retirement System hired Putnam Investments as a core growth manager, said Rafik Ghazarian, financial analyst at Segal Advisors, which assisted in the hiring. Putnam will receive about $20 million, which will come from S&P 500 and Russell 1000 index funds with State Street Bank, Cambridge's custodian. The money was parked with State Street after a reshuffling of managers last fall.
Capital One Financial
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Capital One Financial Corp., Falls Church, Va., selected American Express Institutional Services to provide bundled services to the new $22 million 401(k) plan of the company, which was spun off from Signet Bank last year. Investment options are a GIC fund, balanced fund, stock fund, midcap growth and aggressive growth equity funds, along with a company stock option.
Consolidated Stores Corp.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Consolidated Stores Corp. selected Fifth Third Bank to provide daily valued record keeping, trust services and an automated voice response system for its $50 million-plus 401(k) plan. Fifth Third replaced William M. Mercer, said Mark Fisher, manager of benefits. Consolidated Stores retained five investment options, managed by Merrill Lynch. Fifth Third Bank will administer the company stock option.
Delray Beach Police and Fire
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - The $45 million Delray Beach Police and Fire Retirement Plan hired two managers, said Joseph M. Safford, director of finance.
INVESCO and Rittenhouse Financial Services both will be balanced managers, although for equities INVESCO will focus on value stocks and Rittenhouse on growth stocks. They will split the assets evenly.
Funding came from dropping STI and Barnett Banks Trust, both balanced managers; the plan will retain Barnett as custodian.
Smith Barney assisted in the searches.
Fresno County Employees
FRESNO, Calif. - The $1 billion Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association hired three domestic fixed-income managers, said Clyde J. Francone, assistant treasurer. Voyageur Asset Management, Bradford & Marzec and ARM Investment Services each will be assigned $100 million.
Funding will come from a fixed-income index fund run by BZW Barclays Global Investors, which the association uses as a temporary allocation.
Pension Consulting Alliance assisted in the searches.
IBEW Local No. 648
HAMILTON, Ohio - The $33 million pension fund of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 648 hired Trust Fund Advisors to manage an $11 million growth balanced portfolio, said Linda Bryant, administrator. Funding came from reducing a portfolio managed by Dean Investment Associates, but Dean wasn't terminated.
Life Technologies Inc.
GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Life Technologies Inc. hired Putnam Investments as bundled provider for its $16.9 million 401(k) plan, replacing Riggs Bank. Putnam will provide six investment options, including stocks and bonds, international and stable value, said Reid Knight, director of compensation and benefits.
Los Angeles City Employees
LOS ANGELES - Pending final negotiations, the $5.2 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System has decided to give three-year contracts to three existing managers: active domestic-fixed income manager Smith Graham, running $56 million; domestic intermediate government bond index manager WR Lazard, running $166 million; and international equity index manager State Street Bank, running $507 million.
Minnesota State Board
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The $22 billion Minnesota State Board of Investment committed the lesser of $25 million or 20% of total capitalization to the Merit Energy Partners B fund. Merit is a resource manager.
The board also committed the lesser of $40 million or 20% of total capitalization to the TCW/Crescent Mezzanine Partners. The fund will make mezzanine investments and invest in subordinated debt with equity participation.
New Mexico Public Employees
SANTE FE, N.M. - The $4.3 billion New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association, Santa Fe, replaced one of its four fixed-income managers and retained three incumbents following a search required at the end of a four-year contract period.
BlackRock Financial was hired to run a $490 million mortgage-backed securities portfolio, replacing Smith Breeden Associates. Jeffrey W. States, director-investments, said the change was not performance-related.
Incumbents retained were Nicholas-Applegate for a $390 million active long-term bond portfolio; BZW for a $414 million core fixed-income portfolio; and Putnam Investments for a $450 million short/intermediate fixed-income portfolio.
Wilshire Associates assisted.
New York State & Local
ALBANY, N.Y. - The $74 billion New York State & Local Retirement Systems committed $25 million to FirstCorp Capital 1996 Fund, a private equity fund that will invest in South Africa and southern Africa, confirmed Cynthia Munk, a system spokeswoman.
New York also committed $50 million to the Lazard Freres Opportunity Fund, a real estate investment, confirmed Ms. Munk.
The investments will be funded from cash flow.
Quantitative Group
LINCOLN, Mass. - The Quantitative Group of Funds named Columbia Partners subadviser for its Quantitative Numeric and Quantitative Numeric II mutual funds. Numeric Investors, the funds' current subadviser, is resigning to launch its own funds.
Reed College
PORTLAND, Ore. - Nearly doubling its international investments, the $165 million endowment fund of Reed College hired Warburg Pincus, said Edwin O. McFarlane, vice president and treasurer.
Warburg will be assigned $10 million in an active mandate following the Morgan Stanley Capital Europe Australasia Far East Index with some discretion to invest in emerging markets. The move raised the endowment's total international allocation to $25 million.
Funding will come from cash flow and reallocation among managers; all will be retained.
R.V. Kuhns & Associates assisted.
San Francisco City & County
SAN FRANCISCO - The $7.3 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System selected Capital Guardian Trust as an international small-cap equity manager. Some $31 million is being allocated. Capital Guardian replaces Dunedin.
Asset Strategy Consulting assisted in the selection.
Texas Iron Workers
HOUSTON - The $250 million Texas Iron Workers pension fund, Houston, hired Trust Fund Advisors to manage an $11 million domestic growth equity portfolio, a new investment style for the fund, said Bill Rhodes, fund administrator. Funding came from reducing portfolios with existing managers but none was terminated, he said.
University of Connecticut
STORRS, Conn. - The $61 million University of Connecticut Foundation hired Putnam Investments for an $11 million core growth equity portfolio, confirmed an official with the foundation. Cambridge Associates assisted with the search.
