State Universities Retirement System of Illinois, Champaign, plans to add an active international equity portfolio, said John R. Krimmel, associate investment officer.
The $8.2 billion system will look for a manager to focus on bottom-up selection, small-cap and midcap equities and invest in both EAFE and emerging markets. The firm will be assigned $125 million to $150 million..
Staff will consult with Ennis Knupp to recommend to trustees whether to search from a list of candidates selected by the consultant or do a broader search.
The system may divide the assignment into separate EAFE and emerging markets mandates with a single manager. The staff will present the recommendation in March. Funding likely will come from index funds, run by Barclays, which would retain $3.75 billion.
Gary Mattingly, general manager of the $9.3 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Retirement System, and Oscar Peters, general manager of the $6.2 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System, won pay raises. The Los Angeles City Council increased Mr. Mattingly's salary to $115,000 from $99,764, and Mr. Peters' salary to $110,000 from $91,183.
State Street Bank agreed to acquire Bank of Scotland's trustee business for unit trusts. Terms were not disclosed. Subject to regulatory approval, the business, involving £13 billion (U.S.$21.5 billion) in unit trust assets, will be transferred to State Street's Edinburgh operations.
Also, State Street Global today signed an alliance with Mediolanum SpA, an Italian financial services group, to pursue Italy's corporate and industrywide pension fund management business. The firms will offer asset management and reporting, consulting and education and communication for plan participants.
The firms will immediately bid for the pension fund mandate of FondChim, an Italian chemical group. A 50/50 joint venture called Mediolanum State Street will eventually be launched.
The SEC's proposed changes to shareholder proxy resolutions would bar four out of five resolutions after their third year, according to a study released yesterday by the Social Investment Forum Foundation. The foundation also released a letter to SEC chairman Arthur Levitt, signed by a coalition of 340 groups, protesting the proposed changes. The coalition includes 150 religious organizations as well as the YWCA, AFL-CIO and Wall Street arbitrageur Wyser-Pratte Management.
Hedge fund managers in the Hennessee Hedge Fund Index posted mixed results in November, with managers focusing on international, technology, biotechnology, and growth stocks posting measurable losses, with short sellers and arbitrageurs reporting gains.
The median manager in the index reported a return of -0.12% in November. Managers focusing on emerging markets, the Pacific Rim and Latin America performed the worst, reporting average returns of -4.26%, -4.08%, and -3.75%, respectively. The best-performing classes were short sellers, multiple arbitrageurs and risk arbitrageurs, which reported average returns of 3.56%, 2.79% and 2.08%.
