Bank of Sweden Tercentennary
STOCKHOLM -- The Bank of Sweden Tercentennary Foundation has hired managers for global equity and U.S. small-cap equity portfolios, said Lars Erik Klangby, director of finance for the 6.5 billion Swedish kronor ($800 million) fund.
Baring Asset Management Ltd. was picked to run a $55 million global equity mandate, while ABB Investment Management was selected to manage a $10 million U.S. small-cap equity portfolio. The hires were funded from cash.
Bedfordshire County Council
BEDFORD, England -- Bedfordshire County Council restructured its L596 million ($1 billion) pension fund, terminating two global balanced managers and hiring four specialist managers and a global custodian.
Barclays Global Investors was picked to run a L239 million passive multiasset brief. Active managers hired are Henderson Investors, for L205 million in U.K. equities; Bank of Ireland, L75 million in overseas equities; and AMP Asset Management, L77 million in global fixed income.
The managers replace PDFM and Gartmore Investment, each of which had managed 50% of the fund in global balanced (ex-property) mandates.
Northern Trust has been named custodian. PDFM and Gartmore previously handled custody. Watson Wyatt was the consultant.
Caisse de depot et placement
MONTREAL -- Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec hired State Street Bank & Trust Co. to run its currency overlay program.
The mandate will be "very limited," said a Caisse spokesman who would not give the portfolio size. With C$29.2 billion (U.S.$43 billion) in assets, the firm had C$5.8 billion (U.S.$8.6 billion) in foreign exchange in 1997. Currency overlay had been done in-house.
California Public Employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Trustees of the $140 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System approved June 16 a $150 million commitment to Fenway Partners Capital Fund II.
Also, the retirement system adopted a new cash strategy. Cash from the fund's domestic equity managers now will be invested in State Street Global Advisors Stock Performance Index Futures Fund. The cash had been in the SSgA Short Term Investment Fund.
Centrica PLC
SLOUGH, England -- The Centrica PLC pension fund hired RBS Trust Bank as global custodian for 60% of its pension assets that are managed in active global balanced strategies, said Rita Powell, group pensions manager.
The L900 million ($1.47 billion) fund was spun off from the former British Gas PLC pension fund. Another 10% or so of assets will be transferred to Centrica in September. Those assets will be invested in fixed income and cash by active global balanced managers Mercury Asset and Fidelity Investments. The remaining 40% in plan assets are managed in a passive global equity mandate run by Legal & General Investment Management, which performs custody for those assets. Watson Wyatt Worldwide assisted.
City of Edinburgh
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- The L1.5 billion ($2.48 billion) City of Edinburgh Council Superannuation Fund hired Lloyd George Management to run a L20 million global emerging markets portfolio, the fund's first separate account in this asset class. The fund is consolidating its emerging-markets exposure in one portfolio, said Keith Shepherd, head of investment and treasury.
Environment Agency
LONDON -- The Environment Agency has restructured its L845 million ($1.38 billion) pension fund for active workers. Starting July 1, Legal & General Investment Management will manage 40% in a passive mandate; Schroder Investment Management will run 40% in a medium-risk active mandate; and Mercury Asset Management will manage a higher-risk active mandate. The mandates are all global balanced briefs.
Previously, the fund was in balanced briefs with Schroder and Gartmore Investment Management.
Hymans Robertson assisted.
City of Fitchburg
FITCHBURG, Mass. -- The City of Fitchburg Retirement System picked INVESCO as its first international stock manager to run 5% of total assets. Money for the new manager will come from Safety Fund National Bank in Fitchburg, which manages the fund's entire $52 million in assets in a balanced fund. Segal Advisors assisted.
Illinois State Universities
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The $9 billion State Universities Retirement System of Illinois selected Global Asset Management for international equities, said James M. Hacking, executive director. It will be assigned $150 million, pending contract negotiations.
Ennis Knupp assisted.
Los Angeles City Employees
LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System will invest $5 million in the $3.5 billion Apollo Investment Fund IV. Apollo will focus on investments or securities that provide equity-type returns, said Dan Gallagher, chief investment officer. Pathway Capital was consultant.
Louisiana School Employees
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The $1.4 billion Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System hired two portfolio managers to manage small-cap and large-cap domestic equities, effective July 1.
Brandywine Asset Management will run $50 million in small-cap value stocks while Trinity Investment Management will run $150 million in large-cap value stocks.
Funding came from the termination of Oppenheimer Capital, which managed the small-cap assets; and Loomis, Sayles, which ran the large-cap portfolio.
Main Line Health
BRYN MAWR, Pa. -- Main Line Health hired Miller Anderson as a domestic fixed-income manager for its defined benefit plan. The firm manages a $31 million portfolio that was with BlackRock, which will continue to manage the remaining $72 million of the $257 million fund's bond portfolio. The hire was done for diversification.
Missouri Public Schools
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The $16.6 billion Public School Retirement System of Missouri and the $1.2 billion Non-Teacher School Employees' Retirement System hired Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss, said Mark A. Caplinger, chief investment officer.
Barrow Hanley will manage $1.05 billion in domestic large-cap value equities.
The systems, whose assets are managed identically, had terminated Ark Asset Management, which ran a similar portfolio.
Strategic Investment Solutions assisted.
Norfolk County Retirement
DEDHAM, Mass. -- The $334 million Norfolk County Retirement System hired Income Research and Management as a domestic long-term fixed-income manager to run a $27 million portfolio, said Timothy Cahill, county treasurer.
H.C. Wainwright assisted.
Assets for the hire will come from Wellington and State Street Global; both remain as managers.
Oregon Public Employes
SALEM, Ore. -- The $11.2 billion Oregon Public Employes' Retirement Fund committed $75 million to TSG Capital Fund III, which will seek to acquire controlling or leading equity interests in established companies that have strong market positions. Pacific Corporate Group assisted.
Pennsylvania State Employes
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The $23 billion Pennsylvania State Employes' Retirement System committed up to $75 million to the Apollo Investment Fund IV, which will invest in debt securities. Funding will come from cash.
Cambridge Associates assisted.
St. Louis Police
ST. LOUIS -- The $685 million St. Louis Police Retirement System hired NFJ Investment Group as a core small-cap equity manager to manage $35 million. Mississippi Valley Advisors had managed the portfolio, but was terminated in January. Capital Resources assisted.
San Antonio City Public Service
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, -- City Public Service of San Antonio allocated $20 million to custodian Bank of New York to manage equally in small-cap index and midcap index funds.
The funding comes from the termination of the $610 million fund's small-cap equity manager, said Kenneth Fiedler Jr., chairman of the investment committee. He would not identify the terminated firm. Smith Barney Quantitative Group assisted.
Union College
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Union College hired Vanguard as an S&P 500 index manager for its $200 million endowment fund. Vanguard will manage $10 million. The funding came from domestic fixed income. No managers were terminated.
Valley Health System
BEAVER, Pa. -- Valley Health System Inc. hired Putnam Investments as a core growth equity manager for its $277 million master trust, which includes pension, foundation and board-designated assets. The funding for the $15 million portfolio comes from a redistribution of assets; no managers were terminated.
Yanni-Bilkey assisted.
Western New England College
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Western New England College hired Putnam Investments to manage $9 million in a core growth equity portfolio for its $30.5 million endowment fund. The funding comes from the termination of Bankers Trust, which managed an asset allocation portfolio. Cambridge Associates assisted.
Borough of West Mifflin
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. -- The Borough of West Mifflin Retirement System decided to retain PNC Asset Management as investment manager and trustee of its $16 million in pension assets, after having selected Massachusetts Mutual Life last fall, said Howard Bednar, borough manager.
Sticking points in the contract discussions with Massachusetts Mutual included issues of custody, investment allocation and performance, he said.
Yorkshire Water
LEEDS, England -- The Yorkshire Water Pension Fund has hired Northern Trust Co. as global custodian for the L450 million ($754 million) fund. Northern replaces Bank of Scotland, which shut down its custody operations. William M. Mercer consulted.
