ALCOA, Tenn. -- The City of Alcoa hired First Data to replace ReliaStar as record keeper for its $14 million 401(k) plan, said Ray Richardson, director of finance.
The city also has a $25 million defined benefit plan.
W.S. Badcock Corp.
MULBERRY, Fla. -- W.S. Badcock Corp. hired Prudential Retirement Services to provide bundled services for the company's $25 million 401(k) plan, said Robert Burnette, vice president, corporate administration.
Basic American Foods
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- Basic American Foods hired Watson Wyatt to replace Wurts & Associates as the new consultant for its $30 million defined benefit plan and $250 million 401(k) plan, said Sally Smedal, treasurer.
Ms. Smedal said the first order of business for Watson Wyatt is to conduct an asset-liability study for the defined benefit plan. No timetable has been set.
Alfred Berg
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Alfred Berg Asset Management hired National Asset Management as subadviser for U.S. equities.
National will manage the U.S. equities portion of Berg's institutional clients' assets. The initial amount is $35 million, said Matthew Bevin, National's director of marketing. He said Berg, which has 70 billion krona ($9 billion) under management, wanted a firm "with a large-cap core approach which maintains holdings in both growth and value stocks."
Boilermakers No. 154
PITTSBURGH -- Boilermakers Lodge 154 hired Federated Investors to manage a total of $10 million in both fixed-income and money market portfolios for its $89 million pension fund.
Consultant Steve Schott, senior vice president of The Schott Group, said Federated replaced C.S. McKee, but declined to comment further. Mr. Schott assisted with the search.
District of Columbia
WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Retirement Board has picked managers for two new asset classes -- small-cap to midcap growth and value stocks -- as a result of its recent restructuring.
The $1.7 billion system selected Warburg Pincus to run small-cap to midcap growth equities, with Trust Co. of the West as an alternate. It also selected Ariel Capital Management to run small-cap to midcap value equities, with Rothschild as its alternate. The system also terminated Alliance Capital as a domestic small-cap stock manager because it does not have small-cap as an asset class in its new structure.
Dearborn Heights
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. -- The $35 million Dearborn Heights Employee Pension System's hired Navellier as the fund's first domestic small-cap growth manager. Funding for the $2 million allocation came from withdrawing from the J.&W. Seligman Frontier fund.
City of Harper Woods
HARPER WOODS, Mich. -- The City of Harper Woods hired Phoenix Duff & Phelps to replace Becker Capital Management to run $8.5 million in domestic large-cap value equity for the $40 million defined benefit plan, said Mickey Todd, city clerk. Poor performance was the reason for the change, he added.
"They're probably right (in regards to performance on this account). Second quarter was pretty lousy for us," Patrick Becker, Becker chairman and chief investment officer, said. Salomon Smith Barney Consulting Group assisted.
Ideal Industries Inc.
SYCAMORE, Ill. -- Ideal Industries Inc. hired Ennis, Knupp to replace Rothschild Consulting Services as the $40 million defined benefit plan's new consultant.
Johns Hopkins University
BALTIMORE -- Johns Hopkins University hired Metropolitan West Asset Management to run $50 million in core domestic fixed-income to provide diversification for its $1.5 billion endowment, said Jack Powell, manager of treasury.
Mr. Powell said funding came from reducing other domestic fixed-income investments.
The search was conducted in-house.
Lebanon County
LEBANON, Pa. -- The Lebanon County Employees Retirement Fund hired Cohen, Klingenstein & Marks to manage a $21 million large-cap growth stock portfolio, according to Robert Mettley, county controller.
Funding came from C.S. McKee, which was managing the entire $70 million fund.
"We decided we wanted to expand into the large-cap area," said Mr. Mettley.
Spagnola Cosack assisted with the search.
Michigan Treasury Department
LANSING -- The Michigan Department of Treasury made two commitments to venture capital funds that invest in Internet companies. The department, with close to $49 billion in pension assets, committed $125 million to Softbank Technology Ventures IV and V, said Bridget Medina, a spokeswoman. It also committed $30 million to idealab Capital Partners.
Funding will come from Michigan's cash position, she said. The Department of Treasury has an 8.5%exposure to private equity, she said.
Minnesota State Board
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota State Board of Investment committed a total of $210 million to two private equity funds.
The board of the $34.2 billion fund committed $150 million to Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners IV and $60 million to William Blair Mezzanine Capital Partners III.
New York State Teachers
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York State Teachers' Retirement System committed $200 million and $150 million, respectively, to private equity limited partnerships Clayton Dubilier & Rice Fund VI and Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners IV. Funding will come from the fund's 1%allocation to alternative investments, said Dave Daly, a spokesman.
The $85 billion system also moved $100 million from its cash flow to Sentinel Real Estate. It also committed up to $175 million, plus closing costs, to purchase positions in 14 shopping centers from New England Development.
North Dakota Investment Board
BISMARCK, N.D. -- The North Dakota State Investment Board, with approximately $3.4 billion in assets, plans to make a $35 million private equity investment in Hearthstone Capital MS II, an investment pool dedicated to residential housing construction, said Steve Cochrane, executive director and chief investment officer. Funding will come from cash and rebalancing, he said.
Orange County Employees
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The $4.4 billion Orange County Employees Retirement System board hired Artisan Partners to run a $90 million small-cap value portfolio, replacing Pilgrim Baxter, said Farouki Majeed, investment officer.
He declined to comment on the reason for the termination.
Other finalists were Dimensional Fund Advisors and T. Rowe Price.
Parmalat USA Corp.
TEANECK, N.J. -- Parmalat USA Corp. hired Prudential Retirement Services as the bundled provider for its $24 million 401(k) plan.
Parmalat has acquired four dairies in the past two years and has merged the five 401(k) plans into one.
Parmalat also is expanding the number of investment options to 12 from four. The options are: AIM Balanced; the Alliance Growth Investor; Franklin Small-Cap Growth; MFS Massachusetts Investors Trust; New Perspective; Oppenheimer Limited Term Government Bond; Prudential Diversified Bond; Prudential Equity Income; Prudential Jennison Growth; Prudential Stock Index; Stable Value; and Washington Mutual Investors.
Pennsylvania State Employes
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania State Employes' Retirement System has approved alternative investments of up to $160.2 million, said Geoffrey S. Yuda, spokesman for the $24.1 billion fund. The system committed up to $100 million to existing manager Vestar Capital Partners and up to $5.2 million to existing manager Summit Accelerator Fund. It also approved up to $30 million to Adams Capital Management II and up to $25 million to the Invemed Catalyst Fund, both new allocations. Funding will come from cash.
Cambridge Associates assisted.
Reading Firefighters
READING, Pa. -- The Reading Firefighters Retirement Fund hired Cohen, Klingenstein & Marks to manage $7.5 million in a large-cap domestic equities portfolio, said Barbara Adams, pension manager for the $31 million fund.
Funding came from McGlinn Capital Management, which still manages $21 million in a balanced portfolio for the fund.
"We wanted to diversify the fund," said Ms. Adams, noting McGlinn had managed almost all of the fund before the change.
Salt River Project
PHOENIX -- The Salt River Project hired J.P. Morgan to replace INVESCO as a $150 million growth & income fund manager for its $650 million retirement plan, said Joy Baker, corporate treasurer. Mr. Baker did not give the reason for the change, but did say performance was not an issue.
Nina Lesavoy, spokeswoman for INVESCO, did not return phone calls by press time.
J.H. Ellwood & Associates assisted.
Tallahassee Pension Plan
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The $650 million Tallahassee Pension Plan hired Metropolitan West Asset Management to run $82 million in intermediate core U.S. fixed income, said Linda Smith, asset-liability administrator.
The hiring resulted from a recent asset allocation study.
Funding came from reducing other domestic fixed-income investments, Ms. Smith said.
Arthur Andersen Institutional Investment Consulting assisted.
Turlock Irrigation District
TURLOCK, Calif. -- The Turlock Irrigation District, with a $76 million pension fund, hired SEI to run $3.9 million each in domestic small-cap growth and small-cap value equity, said Don Swanson, deputy treasurer.
Funding came from terminating SG Cowen, which had run the $7.8 million in core small-cap domestic equities.
William Church, chief investment officer for SG Cowen, did not return calls by press time.
P.R. Taylor assisted.
Welch Foods Inc.
WESTFIELD, N.Y. -- Welch Foods Inc. & National Grape Co-Op Association Inc. hired T. Rowe Price to replace CIGNA as service provider of its $36 million 401(k) plan effective Sept. 1, said Stephen Roberts, assistant treasurer.
T. Rowe Price will offer 10 investment options, Mr. Roberts said.
Welch Foods also has a $60 million defined benefit plan.
Wyoming City
WYOMING CITY, Mich. -- The $100 million Wyoming City Employees' Retirement System hired Alliance Capital Management as its first large-cap growth U.S. equity manager to diversify the fund, said Joseph Bommarito, finance director.
Funding for the $20 million allocation is still undetermined.
