Florida hires Nothern Trust for $5.4 billion portfolio

The Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, hired Northern Trust Global Investments to manage $5.4 billion in its first "asset allocation" portfolio, said Barbara Jarriel, CIO at the $96.4 billion system. Northern will run the money in Russell 3000, EAFE and Lehman Aggregate index funds, the benchmarks used for the pension fund's domestic and international equity and fixed-income portfolios, Ms. Jarriel said. The new portfolio will allow the system to rebalance the equity and fixed-income mandates with limited disruption, she said, with the costs and performance measurement attributed to the appropriate strategy. Callan Associates and Ennis Knupp assisted.