Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, Pasadena, Calif., terminated UBS Asset Management as a corporate bond manager and divide the $825 million equally among IDS Advisory Group, Western Asset Management and Loomis Sayles. The three are existing managers for LACERA. The board of the $10 billion pension fund made the changes following recent personnel departures at UBS. UBS Managing Director George Jamgochian declined to comment.
East Bay Municipal Utility District Employees' Retirement System, Oakland, Calif., will eliminate the real estate allocation for its $375 million fund, said Lloyd J. Sawchuk, treasury manager. The fund has a 5% allocation, although only 2% is invested. Investments will be liquidated as they mature. Names of the managers weren't available.
Ann Arbor (Mich.) City Employees Retirement System terminated Lexington Global Asset Managers as domestic fixed-income manager. The $50 million will be put in State Street Research's Lehman aggregate index fund, while a fixed-income portfolio review is completed. The review is expected to be completed by the end of the quarter, said Robb Hubbs, retirement administrator for the $300 million fund. It has yet to be determined if Lexington will be replaced. Callan is assisting.
Staff of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, will seek approval at a board meeting next week to issue an RFP for a small-cap passive U.S. equity index manager. If approved, the RFP will be posted on the Internet. Currently, Dimensional Fund Advisors is the $110 billion fund's passive small-cap U.S. equity manager, with about $1.2 billion in assets. Questionnaires are expected to be due in July, semi-finalists should be chosen in September, and a contract awarded in January 1998.
Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Plan renewed the contract with its full service provider, National Deferred Compensation. Mary E. Willett, director of supplemental retirement plans, said the $600 million plan would renew the contract contingent on successful negotiations. She said the 457 plan may add a self-directed brokerage or mutual fund window option this summer.
The SEC adopted new rules to make it easier for mutual fund companies to hire foreign banks and securities depositories as custodians. Under the amendments published in today's Federal Register, the SEC abolished capital requirements that prevented mutual fund companies from hiring foreign banks and securities depositories as custodians. The amendments also eliminate the consideration of ``prevailing country risk'' as a factor in hiring custodians. Instead, the SEC now requires mutual fund companies to consider the level of reasonable care with which custodians will be able to handle mutual fund assets.
