Vermont Treasurer Jim Douglas hired The Segal Co. to study the feasibility of converting the state's two public defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. Affected would be the $700 million State Teachers' Retirement System and the $622 million State Employees' Retirement Board, both in Montpelier. Segal's report is due in mid-August.
Also, the employees' plan hired Alliance Capital Management to run $35 million in an S&P 500 index fund. Alliance already runs $20 million in non-U.S. equities for the fund. Funding for the indexed portfolio came from Nicholas-Applegate, which was terminated last month.