Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, formed Co-Investment Partners, a captive private equity co-investment partnership through which the pension fund will co-invest with private equity general partners, said William Bell, chief of management policy for the $72 billion pension fund.
The new partnership will be managed by CIP Partners. Florida's captive co-investment program has an initial commitment of $250 million that can grow to more than $ 1 billion. CIP Partners has full discretion to commit to deals ranging in size from $20 million to $75 million, said Irwin Loud, manager, private equity investments. The general partner also must co-invest in each deal, Mr. Loud sa id.
Sisters of Mercy Regional Community of Detroit Inc., Farmington Hills, Mich., is considering REITs as a new investment for its $700 million defined benefit plan, said Kamar Amanullah, administrator.
The plan now has a 5% alloca tion to real estate, which is in commingled portfolios. Trustees will decide whether to conduct a manager search in May. Evaluation Associates is assisting.
Knoxville (Tenn.) Employees Pension Fund terminated Chancellor LGT as la rge-cap growth equity manager because of recent personnel turnover at the firm, said Mike Cherry, executive director. The $94 million portfolio Chancellor managed will be run by Barclays Global in an S&P 500 index fund until anothe r active manager is hired.
A search is not expected to begin until March, after the $650 million fund's new asset allocation is approved by the board. Mercer assisted.
A Chancellor spokeswoman said the firm was sorry to lose the client, but declined to discuss the details of the termination.
Large employers are spending less on retiree medical benefits than they did five years ago, largely because of benefit cuts.
The number of large employers offering re tiree medical benefits declined to 31% for Medicare-eligible retirees in 1997 from 40% in 1993; the number dropped to 38% for early retirees from 46% in 1993, according to a new study by William M. Mercer.
