Middlesex (Mass.) County Retirement Board, Cambridge, hired State Street Global Advisors to run $7.5 million in active emerging markets equities, said Gustavo Aristizabal, COO of Wainwright Investment Counsel, the fund’s consultant. The $520 million fund had chosen PanAgora for the mandate but changed its decision because of the firm’s recent turnover in staff. Peter Rathjens, former CIO of PanAgora, left the firm in the spring. Officials at PanAgora declined to comment. Funding came from terminating Allied Irish, which ran an active Irish equity portfolio with about $20 million. Officials at Allied Irish did not return phone calls by press time.
It reduced funding to active EAFE managers Bank of Ireland, which ran $26 million, and Putnam, which ran $28 million; additional assets were allocated to international equity managers Irish Life and Old Mutual. Bank of Ireland and Putnam now run $10 million each. The new international equity allocation is 10.7% of the fund.
Middlesex also terminated $17 million global fixed-income manager Van Kampen Funds and increased its domestic small-cap and midcap allocation by $35 million, Mr. Aristizabal added. Officials at Van Kampen did not return phone calls by press time.
