Alameda-Contra Costa Transit
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District retained Callan Associates as its pension consultant after conducting a search.
Callan will continue to review the fund's assets and managers. No asset allocation study has been scheduled because an extensive one was done last year, said Sheila Levin, acting administrator for the $168 million fund.
Bakery & Confectionery Union
KENSINGTON, Md. - The Bakery & Confectionery Union & Industry International Pension Fund hired Systematic Financial Management for a $200 million large-cap value equities assignment and gave Alliance Capital Management another $150 million for large-cap growth, said Robert Bergin, executive director for the $4 billion fund.
Alliance now manages $430 million for the fund in large-cap growth.
Mr. Bergin declined to say which firm managed the assets, but did say the firm had been terminated.
Marco Consulting assisted.
Boston Water and Sewer
BOSTON - The Boston Water and Sewer Commission pension fund replaced Cambridge Associates with the Hannah Group as its consultant, said Luciano Petriuzziello, deputy director of finance.
"Our contract with Cambridge Associates had expired, and the Hannah Group was the lowest qualified bidder," he said. The $40 million fund has 60%in stocks and 40%in bonds. Officials do not anticipate any investment changes, he said.
Consolidated Freightways
MENLO PARK. Calif. - Consolidated Freightways hired Strategic Investment Solutions to do an asset allocation review of its $210 million defined benefit pension plan.
The study is expected to be finished before July, said Linda Lester, cash manager. No manager changes are expected, though it is still to early to say, she said.
Genlyte Group
UNION, N.J. - Genlyte Group hired SEI Asset Management as a manager-of-managers for its $39 million defined benefit plan.
SEI will oversee 25 managers for the plan, which previously used Eagle Capital, Neuberger & Berman and Bank of America as separate account managers, said Neil Bardach, Genlyte chief financial officer.
Only Neuberger & Berman will continue to manage domestic mid- to large-cap equities, although its account was significantly reduced. Specific amounts were not detailed.
Graco Inc.
MINNEAPOLIS - Graco Inc. invested $10 million of its $80 million defined benefit plan with two mutual funds.
The Davis New York Venture Fund, run by Davis Selected Advisers, and the Washington Mutual Investors Fund, run by Capital Research, got $5 million each.
Officials withdrew from the Gabelli Asset Fund for performance reasons and took $2 million from Fidelity's Aggressive Fund, said Jon Arfstrom, manager-treasury services. The search was conducted in-house.
Harbor Capital Advisors
TOLEDO, Ohio - Harbor Capital Advisors hired Emerging Growth Advisors as subadviser of the Harbor Growth Fund to replace Nicholas-Applegate, which has been manager of the fund since January 1993.
A Harbor spokesman said the change was because of underperformance. Nicholas-Applegate spokesman Rick Shaughnessy said "we are disappointed to lose this client, but it was a very difficult period to invest in midcap stocks, which greatly underperformed large-cap stocks during the period. We were only about 100 basis points off the performance of the S&P 400 Growth Index, the nearest benchmark."
The fund's investment mandate remains unchanged under the new manager.
IBEW Local 212
CINCINNATI - The $124 million International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 212 pension fund invested $2 million in the Multi-Employer Property Trust, an open-end real estate fund that invests in mortgages and makes loans to developers, said Anthony Carle, benefits administrator. The commitment was funded from cash.
Inland Steel Industries
CHICAGO - Inland Steel Industries Inc. hired M.A. Weatherbie to manage small- and midcap stocks for the $2 billion pension fund, said Terence R. Rogers, direct-pension investments and administration. The amount assigned was unavailable. Assets came from a reallocation.
Ithaca College
ITHACA, N.Y. - Ithaca College hired Lynch & Mayer as a midcap growth manager, Boston Co. as a midcap value manager and added the Harbor International Growth Fund in a restructuring of its $130 million endowment portfolio.
Lynch & Mayer and Boston Co. will split 25%of assets, and 15%will be placed in the Harbor fund. Sanford C. Bernstein and another manager handled the entire fund previously in balanced portfolios, said Carl Sgrecci, vice president and treasurer. He would not identify the other manager, which was terminated. Sanford Bernstein will continue to manage the rest of the portfolio in global bonds, non-U.S. equity, and U.S. large-cap equity. Prime Bucholz assisted.
Merrimac Funds
BOSTON - Merrimac Funds hired Aeltus Investment Management as a subadviser for its new Merrimac Treasury Fund. The money market fund will be marketed only to institutional investors, said Sean Brennan, president of Merrimac Funds. The fund already has $83 million in assets, seed money from Merrimac.
Midland College
MIDLAND, Texas - Midland College hired Conseco Capital Management to handle $2 million in equity for its $10 million endowment fund. The money had been with NationsBank's trust department, said Rudy Gonzalez, vice president of administrative services. NationsBank will continue to manage an undisclosed amount for the college. The search was completed in-house.
Minnesota State Board
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota State Board of Investment committed $40 million to the Contrarian Capital Fund II, a distressed debt fund offered by Contrarian Capital Management, said Howard Bicker, executive director of the $25.8 billion pension fund.
The commitment will be funded from cash.
The board also replaced two managers for its deferred compensation plan. The Maxim Balanced Portfolio, run by INVESCO, replaces Fidelity's Growth & Income option. And the Maxim Corporate Bond Portfolio, managed by Loomis Sayles, replaces Voyageur's U.S. Government Securities option.
Mr. Bicker said Fidelity was replaced for performance reasons.
A Fidelity spokesman said that negotiations with Great West Life & Annuity Insurance, Minnesota's 457 plan administrator, were continuing and the termination was not yet final. A change in the management of the fund was made in January 1996, and performance has improved, said Camille Lepre, a Fidelity spokeswoman.
The Voyageur option was replaced because the company's retail mutual fund business was sold to Lincoln National.
New York United Teachers
ALBANY, N.Y. - The $122 million New York State United Teachers Employees' Retirement Plan committed $2 million, to the Multi-Employer Property Trust, confirmed Thomas Y. Hobart Jr., president. MEPT is an open-end real estate fund that invests in mortgages and makes loans to developers. The commitment was funded from cash.
Northern Illinois Gas
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Northern Illinois Gas hired Aeltus Investment Management to run $20 million in large-cap growth equities for its defined benefit plan. Doug Ruschau, assistant treasurer, declined to identify the source of the funding. The plan has $408 million in assets, according to Nelson's Directory of Plan Sponsors. Callan Associates assisted.
Pennsylvania Public School
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Pennsylvania Public School Employes' Retirement System committed $75 million to Berwind Property Partners IV, an opportunistic real estate fund, confirmed CIO John Lane. The commitment from the $33 billion fund will come from cash.
Seattle City Employees
SEATTLE - Seattle City Employees' Retirement System committed $5 million to the Multi-Employer Property Trust, confirmed Roger Howeiler, executive director of the $1.1 billion fund.
The MEPT is an open-end real estate fund that makes mortgage loans to developers that use union labor. The commitment will be funded from cash.
State Loan and Investment
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The State Loan and Investment Board hired Abel/Noser Corp. and Capital Institutional Services for commission recapture. The amount each will manage has yet to be determined. The $3.2 billion fund also will conclude its search for a large-cap manager at its June 5 meeting. R.V. Kuhns is assisting.
Syntex USA Inc.
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Syntex USA Inc. hired Morgan Stanley to manage an international equity fund for its $250 million 401(k) plan, said Susan Griswold, director-strategic financial planning and trust investments. Syntex also switched a Fidelity fund in the plan, dropping a Fidelity balanced fund and adding Fidelity Puritan fund.
University of Tulsa
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa hired AMR Investment Services and Neuberger & Berman to replace Valu-Trac as international equity manager for its $500 million endowment fund.
AMR will manage $11 million in international equity, and Neuberger & Berman will handle $4 million in emerging markets stocks for the fund. Trustees weren't happy with Valu-Trac's performance, said Warren Henshaw, director of endowments and investments. Valu-Trac officials were not available for comment. Corporate Consulting Group assisted.
Virginia Retirement System
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia Retirement System selected three equity managers.
Genesis Asset Management and Schroders will receive $200 million each to invest in emerging markets stocks, and Capital Guardian will receive $200 million to invest in small-cap international stocks.
Some of the money will come from State Street Global, the system's only passive international adviser, which now has $1.8 billion, said Pamela Thomas, director of international investments. The remainder will come from domestic reallocations, but officials of the $24.7 billion system have not decided what to cut back, said Nancy Everett, deputy chief investment officer.
The fund also approved investments in two alternative equity funds. The $24.7 billion fund is investing $40 million with Code, Hennesy & Simmons III L.P., a private equity fund investing in midmarket companies, and $75 million in Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners II, an LBO fund.
Wolverine World Wide
ROCKFORD, Mich. - Wolverine World Wide Inc. reallocated 20%of the assets in its $100 million pension fund, said Stephen Gulis, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Hired were Cohen, Klingenstein & Marks for $8 million in large-cap growth stocks and Bennett Lawrence Management for $8 million in midcap growth.
Assets came from a $20 million reduction in a large-cap equity portfolio managed by Freiss & Associates. The remainder of the reallocation went to existing managers. PaineWebber assisted.
