Attleboro Municipal
ATTLEBORO, Mass. - The $45 million Attleboro Municipal Contributory Retirement System hired RhumbLine Advisers to manage about $5 million in an S&P 500 index fund. Funding will come from an existing S&P 500 portfolio with SEI. Segal assisted.
BMW North America
WESTWOOD, N.J. - BMW North America hired UBS Brinson to run a domestic fixed-income portfolio; State Street Global Advisors for an international equity account; and J.P. Morgan to manage domestic equities. Portfolio sizes and styles were not disclosed. The pension fund has $119 million, according to the Money Market Directory.
Boilermaker-Blacksmith
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust hired Calamos Asset Management as a convertible bond manager to diversify the $5.7 billion system's fixed-income portfolios, said David Hanson, financial director for the trust. He declined to say how large the portfolio is or how it will be funded.
California Nurses Association
OAKLAND, Calif. - The California Nurses Association hired The Social Equity Group to manage its $1 million reserve fund in a socially responsible balanced portfolio, said Alice Grubb, assistant to the executive director. Officials decided they wanted a socially responsible element in the investment of the assets, Ms. Grubb explained.
The assets previously were run by W.D. Hutchinson & Associates.
Cambridge Retirement System
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The $411 million Cambridge Retirement System hired Ascent as a venture capital manager to run a $5 million portfolio. Funding will come from cash. Segal Advisors assisted.
Chicago Lawyers' Committee
CHICAGO - The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law selected Ron Freund & Associates to manage the endowment fund's long-term portfolio.
John Knoff, director of finance for the Lawyers' Committee, confirmed the appointment but declined to comment on the amount of assets.
Freund, part of the Social Equity Group, will manage a balanced portfolio consisting mostly of domestic equity.
Chicago Public Teachers
CHICAGO - The Public Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund of Chicago chose to retain incumbent William M. Mercer as its full retainer consultant.
Trustees also interviewed: BARRA RogersCasey; Callan; Wilshire; and Marquette Associates.
Mercer proposed a flat fee of $325,000 per year, which includes calculating all money managers' performance numbers. Any asset-liability work was not included in the proposed fee, but the fund recently completed such a study. Mercer has been the $9.5 billion fund's sole consultant since 1989.
Danville Employees'
DANVILLE, Va. - The $156 million Danville Employees' Retirement System hired State Street Global Advisors to run $23 million in domestic large-cap value equities, said Rich Dahab, president of Dahab & Associates, consultant for the fund.
Dearborn Heights Police & Fire
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. - The Police & Fire Pension Plan
of the Dearborn Heights Employee Pension System hired Stafford Capital Management to manage $5 million in small-cap equities for its $102 million defined benefit plan.
The funding comes from the liquidation of the fund's investment in the Seligman Frontier Fund, a mutual fund, and from cash flow, said John Riley II, city treasurer and administrator of the pension fund. The move was prompted by a change in Michigan law that now permits pension funds to invest in separate accounts, Mr. Riley said.
PaineWebber Investment Consulting assisted and also will conduct within a few months a search for an international equity manager. The Police & Fire fund now uses the Euro-Pacific Fund from American Funds, said Mr. Riley, and possibly will move into a separate account.
Fitchburg Retirement
FITCHBURG, Mass. - The City of Fitchburg Retirement System hired Sirach Capital Management to run a $27 million core fixed-income portfolio and Wellington Management to run a $24 million core equity portfolio. Funding for the $65 million system's new managers comes from Family Bank, which was terminated because of high portfolio manager turnover, according to Kevin Leonard, the Segal Advisors consultant who assisted.
IBEW, Local 292
MINNEAPOLIS - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 292, hired Conseco Capital Management as a domestic core fixed-income manager for the union's $103 million pension fund and $166 million annuity fund.
In aggregate, the firm will manage $60 million that had been managed by Galliard Capital Management in an intermediate bond portfolio. Trustees decided to change styles and Galliard did not have a corresponding portfolio to offer, said consultant George Appleby, senior vice president of Independent Fiduciary Services.
IBEW, Local 855
MUNCIE, Ind. - The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 855, hired Conseco Capital Management to manage a $4.5 million core plus fixed-income portfolio, according to Tom Meyers, a Conseco spokesman.
Corporation of London
LONDON - The Corporation of London Pension Fund dropped Schroder Investment Management as the sole balanced manager for its 350 million ($560 million) defined benefit plan following its restructuring into a pooled vehicle with the Corporation of London's Bridge House Estates Charity fund and City Cash fund.
Phillips & Drew was dropped from managing the corporation's 190 million charity fund.
The pooled fund now has assets of 900 million and is being managed using a core/satellite asset allocation.
Gartmore Investment Management was awarded a 420 million low-risk U.K. balanced mandate and a 210 million U.K. index portfolio. It previously ran the 360 million City Cash fund using a discretionary balanced account.
Barings Asset Management was given 126 million to run in specialist U.K. equities for the pooled vehicle; Wellington Management International will manage 81 million in a specialist North American mandate; and Fidelity Pensions Management will run a 63 million Far East portfolio that includes emerging markets.
The funds were pooled to give more consistent returns, said Colin Duck, corporate treasurer for the corporation. "We didn't need three balanced discretionary managers" for three funds run along similar lines, he said.
Marion County Law Enforcement
INDIANAPOLIS - The Marion County Law Enforcement Trust, with $115 million in defined benefit plan assets, completed a restructuring with the hiring of new managers to fulfill a new asset allocation.
Equity managers hired were: Vanguard for $10 million in an S&P 500 index fund; Key Asset Management, $5 million in large-cap value; Heartland Capital, $5 million in large-cap growth; Rice, Hall & James, $5 million in small-cap equities; and Scudder Kemper, $3 million in an international equity account based on the MSCI EAFE index.
Brundage, Story & Rose was hired to manage $25 million and Sirach Capital, $20 million, both in core bond accounts. Brundage, Story & Rose also received $10 million to manage in a defensive fixed-income strategy. Forstmann-Leff International was hired to manage $20 million in a core plus bond account.
The plan had been invested entirely in fixed income, managed by its five custodial banks: First Chicago NBD, Union Federal, Banc One, National City and Key Trust, said the fund's consultant, Joe Bill Wiley of Capital Cities. The fund moved to a single custodian - Key Trust - in April.
Melrose Contributory
MELROSE, Mass. - The Melrose Contributory Retirement System hired Dreyfus Investment Advisors to manage 5% of its $43 million in assets in a core small-capitalization stock portfolio. Funding comes from reducing the accounts of one or all of the system's large-cap equity managers: Freedom Capital; Cutler; and Washington
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
NEW YORK - The $2 billion endowment of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center committed $8 million to Redpoint Ventures I and $10 million to Charles River Ventures X, said Michael P. Gutnick, chief investment officer. Both funds invest in super-high-tech, early stage companies that focus on the Internet and e-commerce.
Funding will come from a $300 million private equity program the foundation started three years ago.
State of Michigan Retirement
EAST LANSING, Mich. - State of Michigan Retirement System hired Principal Capital Management to run $50 million in high-yield mortgages. Funding came from cash, said Roy Pentilla, deputy director of the $50 billion defined benefit plan.
Minnesota State Board
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The investment committee of the $34 billion Minnesota State Board of Investment recommended the system commit up to $250 million to three alternative partnerships.
The fund will invest up to $100 million in Vestar Capital Partners IV; up to $75 million in Citicorp Mezzanine III; and up to $75 million in Windjammer Mezzanine and Equity Fund II.
Executive Director Howard Bicker did not return calls regarding the source of the funding.
Separately, the staff recommended Mr. Bicker be authorized to negotiate and execute contracts to acquire a portfolio of secondary private equity investments, which may be available at a discount of 10% to 15% of their market value.
Missouri State Employees
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The $5 billion Missouri State Employees' Retirement System hired Merrill Lynch Asset Management to run $400 million in an enhanced international index equities fund, said Rick Dahl, chief investment officer. Funding will come from termination of a passive EAFE portfolio with Deutsche. The system wanted to change the style of the portfolio.
Montclair Art Museum
MONTCLAIR, N.J. - The Montclair Art Museum hired BNY Asset Management, New York, to handle its $10 million endowment fund. The funds will be invested in a domestic balanced account, said Joseph Serzan, BNY division head and director of sales. BNY replaces Miller Anderson & Sherrerd, which Museum Comptroller Diane Parisien said was terminated because of poor performance. Tracey Ivey from Miller Anderson did not return phone calls by press time.
New Hampshire 457
CONCORD, N.H. - The $130 million New Hampshire 457 Deferred Compensation Plan hired Aetna as a bundled service provider, said Steve Dimitriou, the Wainwright Investment Counsel consultant who assisted. The fund replaced previous provider Copeland in order to upgrade service, establish an Internet presence, develop a state-of-the-art voice-response system and consolidate investments, he said. The plan also will cut its more than 100 investment options to about 15, Mr. Dimitriou said.
New York Teachers
NEW YORK - Trustees of the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York passed a resolution to reallocate the $8.58 billion Russell 3000 index fund run by Deutsche Asset Management to the system's $16.8 billion Variable Annuity A Funds, said Donald Miller, executive director.
It hired Amalgamated Bank to manage $250 million in a long view S&P 1500 index fund; Mellon Capital Management to manage 50% of the remaining assets, or around $4.16 billion, as of Sept. 30, in a Russell 3000 index fund; and Barclays Global to manage the remainder in a Russell 3000 index fund. The system also hired BGI to manage $888 million in an EAFE index fund previously run by Deutsche. The moves were made for diversification.
Oklahoma Public Employees
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Public Employees' Retirement System hired a small-cap manager and an international equity manager in accordance with a recent asset allocation study.
Dimensional Fund Advisors will manage $130 million in a small-cap value portfolio and Capital Guardian will manage in excess of $100 million in an active core international equity portfolio, said Stephen Edmonds, executive director of the $4.7 billion fund. The source of funding for the portfolios has not been fully determined, but Mr. Edmonds said no managers will be terminated.
Philadelphia Municipal
PHILADELPHIA - The board of the $4.7 billion Philadelphia Municipal Employees Retirement System approved a $20 million commitment to OCM Opportunistic Fund III, a distressed debt fund, said Marc Bonavitacola, chief investment officer of the retirement system.
The fund also has made changes in the mandates of many of its international managers, shifting four of them to EAFE plus emerging markets mandates from pure active EAFE or emerging markets mandates. The fund's new benchmark is the EAFE index plus 200 basis points, he said. The four managers can opportunistically invest up to 20% of their assets in emerging markets, he said.
The fund retains its 20% target allocation to international equities in developed markets and 2% allocation to emerging markets.
Montgomery Asset now runs a $70 million EAFE plus portfolio, whereas it had been a pure emerging markets manager. Putnam Investments, with $110 million; Glenmede Trust, $111 million; and Delaware International, $205 million, will become EAFE plus managers. Previously, each was an active EAFE manager.
Sacramento County Employees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System picked Capital Guardian Trust and Bank of Ireland Asset Management to manage international equities.
Capital Guardian will run two portfolios for the $3.4 billion retirement fund: $170 million in emerging markets equity and $200 million in an EAFE account. Bank of Ireland will run a $140 million EAFE portfolio.
The move follows a shift from regional approaches and a boost in international equity exposure to 20% from 15%.
Schroders and Morgan Grenfell, which manage respective Pacific Basin and European equity portfolios worth about $120 million each, will be terminated.
San Francisco City and County
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco City and County Employees' Retirement System approved funding up to $20 million to New Enterprise Associates IV, a venture capital fund that will invest mostly in seed, startup and early-stage companies.
Southbridge Town Retirement
SOUTHBRIDGE, Mass. - The $15.3 million Southbridge Town Retirement System hired Dreyfus Investment Advisors as a core small-capitalization equities manager to run an $800,000 portfolio. The hiring will fulfill the $15.3 million fund's new asset allocation, which apportioned 5% of assets to small-cap stocks. Funding comes from Freedom Capital's $7.3 million large-cap equities portfolio. Segal Advisors assisted.
Taunton Contributory
TAUNTON, Mass. - The $99 million Taunton Contributory Retirement System picked Wellington Management as an enhanced core fixed-income manager to run $20 million in a commingled fund, said Paul J. Slivinski, executive secretary at the fund. Segal Advisors assisted.
The money will come from reducing the portfolio of U.S. Trust of Boston, which retains $54 million in a balanced account.
Texas Employees' Retirement
AUSTIN, Texas - The Employees' Retirement System of Texas hired two bond managers to manage a total of $750 million in a new high-yield bond allocation.
Trustees of the $18.8 billion fund approved hiring American General Investment Management to handle $500 million and Fountain Capital Management to run $250 million. Funding came from an internally managed $7 billion domestic fixed-income portfolio.
Toronto Transit Commission
TORONTO - The Toronto Transit Commission Pension Fund Society selected Northern Trust Canada to replace CIBC Mellon to be the global custodian of its C$2.2 billion (U.S.$1.5 billion) fund. Treasurer John Cannell declined to comment further.
Vassar College
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Vassar College committed $12.5 million to Crow Holdings Realty Partners II, an opportunistic real estate fund, and $12.5 million to CB Richard Ellis Diversified Realty Investors, a core real estate fund. The commitments are subject to a legal review, said Jay Yoder, director of investments at the $570 million endowment. Funding comes from maturing real estate partnerships, he said.
Watertown Contributory
WATERTOWN, Mass. - The Watertown Contributory Retirement System hired Wainwright Investment Counsel as investment consultant to replace Dahab Associates, confirmed Barbara Sheehan, executive secretary of the $56 million fund.
"I would imagine that the first thing they are going to do is to take a look at the asset allocation and then take a look at the managers," she said.
Woburn Retirement System
WOBURN, Mass. - Woburn Retirement System, with $70 million in assets, hired Zak Capital as a domestic midcap growth manager to manage a $5 million portfolio, said Gus Aristizabal, the Wainwright Investment Counsel consultant who assisted.
Zak replaces Babson, which was terminated following the departure of the portfolio manager who ran the fund's portfolio.
