Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Association, Concord, Calif., hired Innovest Strategic Value Advisors and Aeltus Investment Management for a $150 million socially and environmentally screened enhanced index fund, said Chuck Barron, assistant retirement administrator of the $2.7 billion fund. Innovest will provide the screen for Aeltus, which will manage the portfolio.
The fund also contracted with Innovest to evaluate all its domestic equity managers to determine whether the screen would enhance returns.
Separately, the association hired Advanced Investment Management and INTECH for enhanced domestic equity index funds, running $300 million and $150 million, respectively. All three managers will be expected to perform 100 to 150 basis points above the S&P 500 benchmark. Funding will come from terminating Alliance Capital, which ran a $300 million S&P 500 index fund and a $300 million enhanced S&P 500 index fund. The fund wanted to try different investment approaches. Milliman assisted.