Staff of the $98 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, is asking the fund's investment committee to approve retaining incumbents Pareto Partners and BEA Associates and hiring State Street Global Advisors for currency overlay management assignments. The managers were picked following a search that identified 13 finalists. Approval could come from the board's investment committee as early as Monday. However, fund staffers said they would like lower fees from BEA, and State Street was narrowly picked by staff over NatWest Investment Management.
The staff also is recommending extending BEA's and Pareto's contracts for up to six months, to Dec. 31, to accommodate a possible delay in awarding new contracts. Executives for one of the finalists, Cambridge Financial Management, have said they believe their company's technical score in the selection process was too low, and they may protest the selection process. A protest is expected to delay any awarding of currency overlay management contracts.
