Gary Brinson will head up the institutional asset management division of the combined Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank, overseeing more than 490 billion Swiss francs ($340 billion) under management.
Brinson Partners, which already runs the institutional fund management business of SBC, will grow to include PDFM, the U.K.'s second-largest pension fund manager with £64.6 billion ($108.5 billion) under management. PDFM will retain its brand name; no changes will be made in its investment approach and staffing for the foreseeable future.
Including private client assets, the bank, to be renamed United Bank of Switzerland, will have $916 billion under management.
United Asset Management started a new investment management firm in Amsterdam.
The new firm, Palladyne Asset Management, will be led by CEO Erik van Dijk, formerly head of quantitative research at Fortis Group. Palladyne's initial products include active Dutch equities, currency management and global TAA. The firm is developing European equity and long/short equity products.
Other principals in the new firm are COO Maarten Zant, formerly vice president of Fortis' quantitative team; Director of Marketing Hans Nibbering, formerly director of fundamental research at Fortis; and Director of Information Technology Joost Ruitenschild, who was IT director at Fortis.
CALPERS' investment committee is expected to approve plans for tightening the standards used to evaluate the investment partners for alternative investments. The $124 billion Sacramento-based fund - the California Public Employees' Retirement Sytem - may take a closer look at factors such as performance track records.
The fund's board is expected to approve investments in 10 to 15 alternative investment partnerships over the next six months, with commitments totaling $1 billion to $1.5 billion/ CalPERS staff wants more alternative investments in venture capital, and more of all kinds of atlerntive investments in California and outside the United States.
Fremont Area Foundation, Fremont, Mich., is conducting an asset allocation study that may lead to adding venture capital, inreasing U.S. and foreign equity exposure and decreasing U.S. bonds, said Elizabeth Cherin, executive director for the $175 million fund.
The current mix is 50% large-cap equities, 10% small-cap stocks, 10% international stocks and 30% U.S. bonds. The board is meeting in April to discuss the results of the review and decide whether investment changes will be made. Fund Evaluation Group is assisting.
Orange County Employees Retirement System, Santa Ana, Calif., allocated an additional $225 million to Boston Partners, which runs a fixed-income portfolio tied to the Lehman Brothers Aggregate index. The total size of the portfolio was not available; the fund has $3.6 billion in assets. Funding came from terminating ABN Amro, which ran intermediate bonds, and Columbus Circle, a growth equity manager, as part of a realignment and consolidation of managers.
Callan assisted.
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, is undertaking a major asset-liability and asset-allocation study for its pension and endowment funds, totaling some C$700 million (U.S.$500 million). The study could lead to a restructuring of allocations and managers of the C$210 million endowment fund, C$350 million pension fund, and C$130 million retiree fund.
The university hasn't set a timetable on completing the study because of its complexity, said M. Anne Hicks, manager-investments.
The university would like to align more closely the asset allocations and money managers used by the three funds.
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, plans to increase its venture capital and alternative investment allocations to 10% from about 2% of total assets, said Brian Hardin, vice president-financial affairs. The $162 million endowment expects to discuss setting timetables for searches and funding in February.
