BALDWIN CITY, Kan. -- Baker University hired Morgan Keegan as the first full-retainer consultant for its $30 million endowment fund, said Robert Layton, treasurer.
Mr. Layton said Morgan will review managers and investment guidelines to determine if changes are necessary.
No timetable is set for a decision.
Blue Shield of California
SAN FRANCISCO -- Blue Shield of California hired BT Funds Management to run $46 million in international equities, a Blue Shield spokeswoman said.
BT will manage $11 million of defined benefit assets; the remaining $35 million is Blue Shield of California corporate assets and will be invested in a separate account, a Bankers Trust spokeswoman said.
Blue Shield's defined benefit plan had $120 million in assets as of Jan. 1, 1998, according to the Money Market Directory.
Asset Strategy Consulting assisted.
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- The $2.5 billion California Endowment hired Snyder Capital Management to run a $50 million small-cap to midcap value portfolio, said Alex Hsiao, senior investment manager.
Funding will come from a new contribution.
Asset Strategy assisted.
Certified Groceries
LOS ANGELES -- Certified Groceries of California hired Union Bank as master trustee for its $40 million defined benefit plan, said David Woodard, treasurer.
Union replaces Bank of America, which no longer offers this service.
Canterbury Consulting assisted.
Colorado Fire and Police
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The $2.2 billion Colorado Fire and Police Pension Fund extended its contract with alternative investment adviser Pacific Corporate Group for another two years, said Bill Morris, executive director. PCG has been advising the Englewood-based fund on alternative investments for three years. The fund, which has an alternatives target allocation of 5% of invested assets, has raised the cap on commitments to 10% from 8%, he said.
Cummins Intermountain Inc.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Cummins Intermountain Inc. hired Putnam Investments to provide full services including money management, record keeping and some education, to its $8 million 401(k) plan, said Frank Spilker, chief financial officer and vice president of finance.
Retirement Consulting Group will conduct educational seminars and offer one-on-one education consulting to plan participants, Mr. Spilker said.
Beginning April 1, Putnam will supply the plan's eight investment options, which are: Putnam Stable Value; George Putnam Fund of Boston; Putnam International Growth; Putnam Income; Putnam Growth and Income; Putnam Investors; Putnam New Opportunity; and a small-cap to midcap equity fund, Mr. Spilker said.
Putnam replaces a number of service providers, including Mass Mutual Life Insurance and former record keeper, Pensions Source of Salt Lake City. Cummins also omitted the Fidelity Retirement Growth Fund and Dreyfus Ginnie Mae fund from the 401(k) plan, he said.
"One of the key things we were looking for was cost of services, and some of their options suited our needs the best," Mr. Spilker said. Putnam agreed to handle loans from participants' 401(k) accounts at no additional cost, he said.
Duke Energy Corp.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke Energy Corp. hired Aronson + Partners for its $3.2 billion pension fund, said Jeffrey L. French, director-long-term investments.
Aronson will run U.S. small-cap equities, benchmarked to the Russell 2000 index. The amount of the assignment was unavailable.
Funding came from a reallocation.
Frank Russell assisted.
Fordham University
BRONX, N.Y. -- Fordham University hired J.L. Kaplan Associates as its first small-cap value U.S. equity manager to run 5% of assets, said Conrad Obregon, director of treasury operations for the $200 million endowment.
The hiring was the result of an asset allocation study.
Fund Evaluation Group assisted.
GATX Corp.
CHICAGO -- GATX Corp. hired RIMCO to manage about $8 million in domestic small-cap growth equities for its $325 million defined benefit plan, said Michael Sullivan, manager of retirement plan investments.
Funding came from a passive domestic small-cap equity portfolio. The switch was the result of an asset-liability study, which prompted the company to review its asset allocation, he said.
Illinois Municipal Retirement
OAK BROOK, Ill. -- The $13.3 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund hired Jacobs Levy Equity Management to run a $440 million portfolio. The portfolio, previously managed by terminated domestic large-cap growth equity manager Provident Investment Counsel, will be handled in a more structured, risk-controlled approach, but still be benchmarked to the Russell 1000 growth index, said Walt Koziol, director of investments.
Mercer assisted.
Kentucky Judicial Retirement
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Kentucky Judicial Retirement System hired Cohen, Klingenstein & Marks as its first large-cap value U.S. equity manager to run $30 million, for diversification, said Donna Stockton-Early, executive director for the $150 million fund.
Funding for the new allocation will come from rebalancing domestic equities, she said.
The search was done in-house.
Nashville Electric Power Board
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Electric Power Board of Nashville hired Calamos Asset Management as its first alternative investments manager, to run $5 million in convertible debentures, as a result of a recent asset allocation study, said Decosta Jenkins, vice president of finance for the $127 million defined benefit plan.
An additional $5 million will be allocated to Calamos over the next year, he said, and funding for both allocations will come from reducing domestic equity investments.
The new asset mix is 64% U.S. equities, 15% international equities, 3% alternative investments and 19% domestic fixed income.
The previous mix was 67% U.S. equities, 14% international equities and 19% domestic fixed income.
No further manager hirings are expected, he said.
PaineWebber assisted.
National Fuel Gas Co.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- National Fuel Gas Co. hired Brandywine Asset Management as its first global fixed-income manager, in order to diversify its $512 million defined benefit plan, said Barry Cope, manager of trust investments.
The $25 million allocation will come from cash, Mr. Cope said.
The search was conducted in-house.
New York City Deferred
NEW YORK -- The $3.4 billion New York City Deferred Compensation Program hired Principal Mutual and John Hancock as traditional GIC managers. Each firm will manage $20 million, which will come from cash. Mercer assisted.
Pawtucket Police and Fire
PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- The $50 million Pawtucket Police and Firefighters' Fund hired SEB Asset Management to manage a $7 million domestic intermediate long-duration fixed-income portfolio and Hutchens Investment Management to run a $3.5 million domestic core equity portfolio. Funding will come from existing managers as part of a move to further diversify assets, said Ron Wunschel, finance director.
Dean Witter assisted.
Santa Clara County
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The $400 million Santa Clara County Deferred Compensation Plan hired ICMA Retirement as its bundled provider, effective July 1, said Jeff Bryson, chairman of the deferred compensation committee.
ICMA will offer 33 investment options and record-keeping services, he said. The plan now uses two investment providers, Washington Mutual Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.
Also effective July 1, the Valley Transportation Authority Deferred Compensation Plan, Santa Clara, with more than $40 million in assets that are now pooled with the Santa Clara County plan, will be managed and administered separately, Mr. Bryson said. Valley Transportation also hired ICMA as its bundled provider, he said.
City of Stamford
STAMFORD, Conn. -- The $180 million City of Stamford retirement plan hired Boston Co. Asset Management as an additional small-cap growth U.S. equity manager to run $6.6 million, said Barry Kaplan, benefits manager.
The allocation will be funded by reducing the $18.6 million portfolio run by the plan's other growth manager, Amerindo Investment Advisors, he said.
Sturgis Employees' Retirement
STURGIS, Mich. -- The $42 million Sturgis Employees' Retirement System hired Alliance Capital Management and Osprey Capital Management to replace Fox Asset Management, which previously managed a $41 million small-cap value U.S. equity portfolio, said Michael Vance, city controller and pension administrator.
Alliance will run a large-cap growth U.S. equity portfolio and Osprey will run domestic value, he said. Each manager will receive $20.5 million funded from the terminated Fox mandate, with the remaining $1 million in cash.
Fox was terminated because of poor performance and staff turnover, Mr. Vance said. Dorann Cafaro, Fox director of client services, said, "Our performance is superior and remains above the average value manager."
Texas County & District
AUSTIN, Texas -- The $7 billion Texas County & District Retirement System added high-yield convertible bonds as an asset class and hired Oaktree Capital, PIMCO and W.R. Huff Asset Management as its first high-yield bond managers, said Alan Adams, investments coordinator. Portfolio sizes are undetermined. Mr. Adams, who declined to give the new asset mix, said the hirings are the result of a recent asset allocation study. No further manager hirings are expected, he added.
Texas Firefighters' Pension
AUSTIN, Texas -- The $28 million Texas Firefighters' Pension Commission hired Brandes Investment Partners to run an EAFE portolio, to further diversify the fund. The $4 million allocation will come from reducing large-cap value U.S. equity and domestic fixed-income investments.
Virginia Retirement System
RICHMOND, Va. -- The $33.2 billion Virginia Retirement System approved three new private equity investments. They are: $40 million in Quadriga Capital Private Equity Fund II; $60 million in the Atlas Venture Fund IV and $75 million in the Madison-Dearborn Fund III. It already invests in Madison-Dearborn Fund I and Fund II. Funding comes from cash.
