Hirings

NILES, Ill. — Bradford Group added four Fidelity Freedom funds as investment options in its 401(k)/profit-sharing plan, said Russ Rahn, human resources manager. No consultant was used. The plan has $36 million in assets, according to the Money Market Directory.

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The $97 million Burlington Employees' Retirement System hired Hansberger Global Investors to run $8 million in American depository receipts, said Cindy Davis, retirement administrator. Hansberger replaced PIMCO, which ran the money in a similar portfolio, Ms. Davis said. Morgan Stanley assisted.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The $165 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System agreed to invest $85 million in Secured Capital Japan Real Estate Partners I, an opportunistic fund that will invest mostly in Japanese multifamily properties, along with select office and retail/mixed-use properties. It also committed $125 million each to buyout funds Silver Lake Partners II and First Reserve X.

MONROE, La. — CenturyTel Inc. added the American Funds AMCAP, Fidelity Diversified International and PIMCO NFJ Small-Cap Value and Low-Duration III funds as investment options for its eight 401(k) plans, which have a combined $250 million in assets, said Connie Walker, analyst-retirement and 401(k). The plans, which mirror each other, will drop the Janus Fund and Janus Overseas fund because of performance, effective June 1, Ms. Walker said. No consultant was used. "The Janus Fund and Overseas fund have seen marked improvements in their performance, and we are very encouraged by that," said Shelley Peterson, Janus spokeswoman.

DALLAS — The Dallas-Fort Worth Airport Employees' Pension Plan hired Biscayne Advisors to manage $12 million in active domestic midcap equities for the $190 million pension plan, according to an airport news release. Funding came from reducing portfolios run by four other equity managers, said Michael Phemister, assistant vice president of finance. No managers were terminated. First Southwest advised.

EL PASO, Texas — The $520 million El Paso Firemen & Policemen's Pension Fund hired Goldman Sachs to run $25 million in active domestic large-cap growth equities, said Robert Stanton, executive director. State Street Global Markets will be transition manager for the assets, he said. Funding came from terminating an unidentified manager. Summit Strategies advised.

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Electrical Workers, Local 292, hired Galliard Capital to run active domestic core bond portfolios for the $250 million combined annuity and 401(k) plan and $105 million pension plan, said Monte Tarbox, vice president with Independent Fiduciary Services, the plans' investment consultant. Galliard will run $37 million for the annuity and 401(k) plan and $23 million for the pension plan, Mr. Tarbox said. Galliard replaced Strong Capital, which was terminated following market-timing allegations against the firm and its founder and chief executive officer, Richard E. Strong, Mr. Tarbox said. Galliard was a finalist when trustees last conducted a search about a year and a half ago, he said.

Drew Wineland, Strong Capital spokesman, declined to comment.

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Fall River Contributory Retirement System hired State Street Global Advisors to run $14 million in an MSCI EAFE index fund for the $198 million pension plan, said Christine Tetreault, executive director. SSgA replaced active international equity managers Putnam and Bank of Ireland, which were terminated for performance; both had been on watch, she said. Putnam ran $10 million and Bank of Ireland ran $4 million.

"We are disappointed about their decision, but hope to have the opportunity to manage investments for them again in the future," said Laura McNamara, Putnam spokeswoman. Anne Banks, Bank of Ireland spokeswoman, did not return a call seeking comment by press time.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky hired Fort Washington Capital to run $2 million in venture capital for the $485 million endowment, said Susan Krauss, director of investments. Funding came from new donations, Ms. Krauss said. Ennis Knupp assisted.

LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing Board of Water & Light added the Scudder Technology, American Funds Balanced and Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences funds as investment options in its $100 million 401(a) plan, said David Cluley, manager of general accounting.

The plan dropped the AllianceBernstein Technology fund and three Putnam funds — Capital Appreciation, Health Sciences Trust and George Putnam Fund of Boston,. Trustees made the change because of performance and in response to market-timing investigations into Alliance Capital and Putnam Investments, and the termination of those fund families by large pension plans, Mr. Cluley said.Bundled provider Prudential assisted.

"We are disappointed about their decision but hope that we will have the opportunity to manage investments for them again in the future," said Laura McNamara, Putnam spokeswoman. John Meyers, AllianceBernstein spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

DES PLAINES, Ill. — Littelfuse Inc. hired Mercer Human Resource Consulting as the $45 million pension plan's first general consultant, said Susan Sterling, senior compensation and benefits specialist. Mercer HR will review the plan and help officials determine whether the company should continue to offer a traditional defined benefit plan, Ms. Sterling said. The review should be completed by year's end.

LOS ANGELES — The $7 billion Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System hired Reliant Equity Partners to run $8 million in specialized non-traditional private equity, a new asset class for the fund, said Dan Gallagher, chief investment officer. The system allocated 0.7% to specialized non-traditional private equity.

DENVER — MediaNews Group Inc. hired Mercer Investment Consulting as the first investment consultant for its newly consolidated $50 million pension plan, said Bruce Backer, director of benefits. MediaNews combined its three defined benefit plans at the end of 2003, he said.

GOSHEN, Ind. — MMA Praxis Mutual Funds hired Northern Trust as global custodian for its four mutual funds, totaling $415 million, said John L. Liechty, MMA senior vice president of financial services and Praxis president. Northern Trust replaces Fifth Third Bank as custodian for the three domestic mutual funds and Mellon Bank for the international fund. MMA made the change to reduce cost and consolidate the funds with a single custodian, Mr. Liechty said. Paros Partners assisted.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Firefighters' Pension & Retirement System hired Oppenheimer Capital to run $67 million in active international equities, said Robert Jones, executive director of the $1.4 billion system. Funding came from terminating Bank of Ireland from a similar portfolio, he said; he declined to give the reason. Asset Consulting Group assisted.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The $13 billion Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System hired Julius Baer and Delaware Investments to run $65 million each in active all-cap international equities, said Robert J. Wallace, executive director. Funding will come from terminating Bank of Ireland, which ran $145 million in international large-cap core equities, Mr. Wallace said. The rest of the money will be used for rebalancing, he said. Trustees wanted to restructure the system's 10% international equity allocation; the new firms will handle portfolios with both value and growth tendencies, he said. Bank of Ireland rebid. Asset Consulting Group assisted.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Treasury selected Goldman Sachs and Dreyfus to run between $50 million and $100 million in money market funds, pending contract negotiations, said Ken King, deputy state treasurer. The firms will run part of the state's $1.9 billion in general revenue funds; the exact size of each portfolio has not been determined, Mr. King said.

Goldman Sachs will run the money in its Asset Management Financial Square Treasury Obligations fund and Government fund; Dreyfus will run the money in its Government Prime and Treasury Prime Cash Management funds, said Sue MacHugh, state chief investment officer. Treasury officials wanted to diversify the fund's 10% cash allocation, Ms. MacHugh said.

Funding will come from reducing the state's combined $190 million investment in the AIM Treasury, Fidelity Treasury and One Group Government Money Market funds, she said. The other 90% of state funds are invested in U.S. Treasuries and Oklahoma bank CDs, she said.

SALEM, Ore. — The $43.9 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund committed $50 million to Lionstone Group to run in U.S. core real estate and increased its commitment to Lionstone's Cash Flow Office One fund by $50 million, to $125 million, said Todd Jones, spokesman. Funding came from cash. Currently, the system has 6% of its total assets in real estate, with an 8% target allocation, Mr. Jones said.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. — Tender Loving Care Health Care Services Inc. hired Diversified Investment Advisors as bundled provider of its $11 million 401(k) plan, said Bernard Lipman, manager of compensation and benefits. DIA replaced previous bundled provider Prudential Retirement Services. "We were looking for a full-service provider who would have a partnership with us. We weren't getting the services we were looking for with our previous provider," said Mr. Lipman.

Darrell Oliver, a Prudential spokesman, said the firm had no comment.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. — United Conveyor Corp. added the Harbor International fund as an investment option in its $30 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan, replacing the Scudder International fund, said David Hoyem, treasurer and plan trustee. The Scudder fund was dropped for performance; the plan's investment policy requires that all options be in the top half of their peer group, Mr. Hoyem said. No consultant was used.

"While we're sorry to lose any valuable client, we remain confident in the quality of our products and services," said Judy Inosanto, spokeswoman for Scudder parent Deutsche Asset.

CHICAGO — Winston & Strawn LLP added the Ariel Appreciation, CRM Mid Cap Value, PIMCO NFJ Small-Cap Value and Templeton Growth funds as investment options in its $130 million profit-sharing and $70 million 401(k) plans, said David McDonald, director-retirement services. The plans, which mirror each other, closed the Janus Worldwide fund to new investments because of fund manager changes, Mr. McDonald said. Plan officials will likely drop the fund as an options if existing account balances "dwindle," he said. Bundled provider Fidelity assisted.