Maryland State Retirement System, Baltimore, may create a formal policy for investing in minority and emerging managers, said Joe Coale, spokesman for the $25 billion system. The idea resulted from the system's recent termination of Progress Investment Management, which ran $71 million in a fund of funds consisting of minority and emerging managers, and the earlier souring of a relationship with Baltimore businessman Nathan A. Chapman Jr., who ran $150 million in a fund of funds using minority managers.
The system parked the money from Progress in an internally managed S&P 500 index portfolio pending the result of policy discussions; it does not currently have a policy on minority or emerging managers.
The system has five other minority or emerging managers running a total of $719 million: Edgar Lomax, $172 million; Ariel Capital, $212 million; Brown Capital, $77 million; Kenwood Asset Management, $50 million; and Advent, $208 million, Mr. Coale said.
The system will also decide at its Dec. 17 board meeting whether to retain current actuarial consultant Milliman USA or search for a new actuary. The contract with Milliman has two years remaining.
