Many Massachusetts public pension funds are holding off on changes with investments or money managers until next year because of a new law that took effect today. The law requires all 106 public plans in the state (except the Massachusetts Port Authority Employees Retirement System and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Fund) to expand their boards to five members by Jan. 7. Most systems now have three trustees. Officials at the Brookline Retirement Board, the Chicopee Contributory Retirement System and the Hampden County Contributory Retirement System are among those that put searches or manager hirings on hold until the funds can comply with the law.
Arinc Inc., Annapolis, Md., hired Strong Capital Management to run a $20 million U.S. fixed-income portfolio for its $230 million defined benefit plan. The hiring resulted from a rebalancing to move closer to target allocations, said David Erculiani, director of pension management. Large-cap equities were reduced to fund the additional bond allocation, but no managers were terminated. Mercer assisted. Mr. Erculiani expects more hirings late in the fourth quarter or early in the first quarter
