Maine State Retirement System, Augusta, may become the first pension fund to adopt Ennis Knupp’s controversial "whole-stock portfolio” approach to domestic equities. The $7.5 billion system plans to pursue the broad-based approach and come back with names of managers to review over the next two to three months, said David Wakelin, chairman of the board of trustees.
The potential restructuring could affect up to $750 million in active U.S. equity portfolios. Currently, Alliance Capital runs $450 million in large-cap growth equities; and Peregrine Capital, $315 million in small-cap equities. Alliance might be considered for a whole-stock portfolio, and the fund might keep some assets in a small-cap portfolio, Mr. Wakelin said. But he noted it might take six months to implement any restructuring.
