Pennzoil Co., Houston, is considering adding international and small-cap equity options to its $172 million 401(k) plan.
The investment committee is in ``the investigative process'' and has no manager searches scheduled, said Carolyn Van Dyke, financial analyst. The combined hourly and salaried workers plan has seven options.
SEI Capital Resources probably will assist in any manager searches, she added.
Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Stamford, Conn., is considering investments in REITs following the termination of a small-cap value equity manager.
The board also could replace the manager or run the $20 million portfolio in-house, said Boris Wessley, comptroller for the $185 million foundation. He would not name the manager, which was terminated for performance, he said. The board will make a final decision on how to invest the assets at its June 11 meeting. Cambridge Associates is assisting.
The Southern Nevada Culinary & Bartenders Pension Trust, Las Vegas, nearly tripled the assignment of Roxbury Capital Management, said Richard P. Crane Jr., trustee. The $1 billion trust added $39 million to raise Roxbury's midcap equity portfolio to $55 million.
Assets came in a reallocation from Bankers Trust, which managed a small-cap portfolio, and was terminated.
In the face of subpoena threats, Dallas officials turned over confidential actuarial studies to the Texas Pension Review Board. City officials claim the studies show the $1.3 billion plan is financially sound. The agency is moderating a dispute between fund trustees and the city. Trustees claim the city's projected 9.2% annual return on investments is too high and the fund's own 8.25% projection is more realistic.
Pension fund trustees claim the city's projections could lead to shortfalls over the next 30 years.
PRB officials are reviewing the city's information and plan to address the issue at an April 10 meeting.
CalPERS approved corporate governance market principles for the U.K. and France. Among other things, the $110 billion pension system's board calls for the elimination of staggered board terms and the adoption of confidential voting.
The fund also called for U.K. corporate governance codes or principles to be upheld and strengthened. British interests, including the Confederation of British Industry, are trying to reduce the number and specificity of corporate governance measures in the U.K., CalPERS officials said.
The board called on French companies to carry out responsibilities to all investors, including minority shareholders.
SEARCHES & HIRINGS
Hartford (Conn.) Employees Retirement System is spending the next three months searching for its first international equity managers. The $750 million fund will allocate about $75 million to the new area. The pension commission will conduct the search using Callan Associates' money manager database, said Kathleen Palm, assistant city treasurer. A total of $60 million will go to one or two active managers and $15 million will go to a passive manager, she added.
Finalists are expected to be chosen by mid-May with new managers in place by July 1.
Houston Municipal Employees' Pension System hired Yamaichi International Capital Management for a $35 million Southeast Asia portfolio that excludes Japan and Australia. Assets came from rebalancing of international equities; no managers were terminated, said David L. Long, executive director of the $1 billion fund. Wilshire assisted.
Ash Grove Cement Co., Overland Park, Kan., hired Trinity Investment Management to manage a $20 million active equity portfolio for its $100 million pension fund, said Robert Sunderland, chairman.
Assets came from an in-house portfolio.
WHO'S NEWS
Everett Miller and Aviva Budd, the top two real estate and alternative investment professionals for the $13.8 billion State of Connecticut Trust Funds, Hartford, left the fund. Mr. Miller, who was unavailable for comment, is working with Endowment Realty Advisors, an investment fund sponsored by The Common Fund. Ms. Budd said she will join U.S. Realty Advisors as a senior vice president. State Treasurer Christopher Burnham, sole trustee of the fund, was unavailable.
Martina Hun-Mejean, treasurer of Vauxhall Motors Ltd., Luton, England, was named comptroller. She will continue overseeing the company's £1 billion ($1.6 billion) pension fund until a replacement is found.
J. Richard Zecher was named CIO by Ferrell Capital Management, a new position. Mr. Zecher will work on re-starting Ferrell's manager-of-managers division and the risk consulting side of Ferrell's business.
Previously, he worked with a family business, Bellingham Capital Management
