West Virginia Investment Management Board, Charleston, is expected to approve a plan to invest 60% of its $4.5 billion in total assets in stocks and the rest in bonds.
That allocation was recommended by Summit Strategies Group for the five pension funds overseen by the board, which is expected to vote on the proposal April 30, said H. Craig Slaughter, executive director.
Under a law passed in September, 60% of assets is the most the board can allocate to stocks. Without the ceiling, Summit would have recommended the state Teachers' Retirement System and the Public Safety Employees' Retirement System, both heavily underfunded, invest 80% of their assets in equities, Mr. Slaughter said.
The board may eventually consider asking legislators to remove the cap on equity investing. But it is unlikely to reach the 60% ceiling for at least a couple of years, he said.
Prudential Investments added two mutual funds, the Real Estate Securities Fund and the High Yield Total Return Fund. The real estate fund is value-oriented and invests in REITs. The portfolio manager is Robert McConnaughey.
The fixed-income fund invests in high-yield bonds, seeking both income and capital appreciation.
Diversified Investment Advisors, Purchase, N.Y., added the Short/Intermediate Term Horizon Fund and the Long Horizon Fund to its Strategic Asset Allocation Fund family. There are now five time-weighted asset allocation funds in the series.
All five funds invest in Diversified's existing manager-of-managers equity, bond and money market mutual funds. They are designed for use in the defined contribution plan market.
Fewer U.S. investors plan to increase their foreign allocations this year than last year, according to a survey by PaineWebber and the Gallup Organization.
The survey found 26% of U.S. investors have international holdings. Of those, 28% plan to increase their positions this year, compared with 39% last year. The majority of investors with non-U.S. holdings - 54% - plan to maintain their current levels.
