Hirings

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. picked Crestline Investors as the fund's first absolute-return manager. Crestline will invest $250 million for the $28 billion fund in a low-risk strategy; the source of funding has not yet been determined, said spokeswoman Laura Achee. Callan Associates assisted.

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — American Medical Response hired Fidelity as bundled provider of its $190 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan, effective Oct. 1, said Kurt Ronsen, director of compensation and benefits. Fidelity replaced Putnam Investments, which rebid, Mr. Ronsen said. Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting assisted.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As expected, CalPERS hired 10 managers — including four fixed-income firms — to run a combined $6 billion in U.S. enhanced indexed equity assets, pending contract negotiations, said Brad Pacheco, spokesman. The equity managers were: Barclays Global Investors; INTECH; Franklin Portfolio Associates; Goldman Sachs Asset Management; Prudential Investment Management and State Street Global Advisors. The fixed-income firms were: Atlantic Asset Management; PIMCO; Smith Breeden and Western Asset Management. The firms were recommended by staff of the $160 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System and by consultant Wilshire Associates.

EBENSBURG, Pa. — Cambria County Employees' Retirement System hired Prime Solutions to conduct the first independent review of the $130 million plan, said Antoinette Sherry, deputy comptroller. The retirement board wants "to make sure that everything is on the up and up," Ms. Sherry said. Prime Solutions will review the plan's money managers, its consultant, asset allocation and overall investment policy, she said. The date for completing the review has not been set.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Coral Gables Retirement System selected Merrill Lynch as investment consultant, pending contract negotiations, said Kimberly V. Groome, administrator. The $200 million plan terminated previous consultant UBS Financial in March, Ms. Groome said. Custodian Northern Trust is serving as interim consultant.

OMAHA, Neb. — The $132 million Douglas County Employees' Retirement Trust Fund invested $10 million in Mutual of Omaha's International Developed Countries Fund, said Kathy Goodman, insurance and pension coordinator. Funding came from pulling $5 million each from Mutual of Omaha's Small Company and Stock Market Index funds, leaving those investments at $10 million and $15 million, respectively, Ms. Goodman said. The changes were made for diversification, she said. Asset Consulting Group assisted.

DENVER — Gates Corp. hired Wellington to run $20 million to $30 million in international equities for its $350 million pension plan, said John Barker, director-retirement benefits. Wellington replaced Putnam, which ran a similar portfolio for the plan, Mr. Barker said. He would not say why Putnam was terminated. Russell Investment Group assisted.

Separately, Gates' $425 million 401(k) plan added the Fidelity Diversified International fund and dropped the Putnam International Growth fund as investment options, Mr. Barker said. He declined to provide the reason for the move. Mellon Human Resources and Investor Solutions assisted.

MEQUON, Wis. — The Greater Wisconsin Employer-Union Pension Trust Fund committed about $2 million each to the Harbor Capital Appreciation and TCW Galileo Select Equities mutual funds, said Donna Rieckhoff, administrative manager. Funding came from withdrawing the $64 million plan's investment in the Janus Growth & Income fund, Ms. Rieckhoff said. Officials made the move because of performance and management changes at Janus Capital, she said. Strategic Capital Investment Advisors assisted. Paul Lederhos, Janus spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

MISSION VIEJO, Calif. — James Hardie Building Products hired NYLIM Retirement Plan Services as bundled provider of its $41 million 401(k) plan, according to John Campbell, principal at Benefit Funding Services Group, which advised the company. The previous provider was Great-West, which rebid.

ATLANTA — IBEW Local Union 613, Atlanta, will add the Vanguard Windsor II, Selective Value Index, Midcap Growth, Explorer and REIT funds as investment options in its $200 million defined contribution plan, said Lonnie Plott, business manager. Trustees wanted to fill style gaps, Mr. Plott said.

JACKSONVILLE Fla. — The Jacksonville General Employees Pension Fund selected five firms to form its first pool of transition managers: Credit Suisse First Boston; Lehman Brothers; Morgan Stanley; State Street Global Advisors; and Northern Trust, said Camille Cossa, pension administrator. Each time the $1.6 billion plan hires a new manager, it will ask each firm in the pool to submit an estimate for the cost of moving the assets, Ms. Cossa said. Global custodian Northern Trust had provided transition management services, she said.

OMAHA, Neb. — Peter Kiewit Sons' Inc. added the Morgan Stanley Institutional Small Company Growth fund as an investment option in its $151 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan and dropped the INVESCO Small Company Growth fund, said George Kleine, benefits manager. DiMeo Schneider assisted.

BATON ROUGE, La. — The $1 billion Louisiana Sheriffs' Pension and Relief Fund committed $50 million to a Russell Investment commingled real estate equity fund, a new asset class, said Osey McGee, executive director. Trustees made the move because of concern about future equity and fixed-income performance, Mr. McGee said. Funding came from reducing the plan's stock and bond targets by 2.5 percentage points each, to 50% and 42.5%, respectively, he said.

LONDON — Medical Research Council Pension Scheme hired Mirabaud Investment Management to run £110 million ($200 million) in U.K. equities; Capital International to run £110 million in global equities; and Royal London Asset Management to run £55 million in fixed income. Funding came from dropping balanced portfolios of £150 million each run by Merrill Lynch Investment Management and Deutsche Asset Management. Trustees of the £550 million pension plan decided to appoint specialist money managers, and there had been performance problems with both firms, said Grant Ballantine, actuarial adviser to the plan. Both Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Asset were invited to bid for the new mandates, he added. Incumbent manager Barclays Global Investors was retained to run £165 million in passive equity and fixed income, and Henderson Global Investors was retained to run £93.5 million in property. The balance of assets went to cash.

Both Natascha Guler, spokes- woman for Merrill Lynch, and Mark Pursey, spokesman for DeAM, declined comment.

MILTON, Mass. — Milton Academy chose two REIT investments for its $143 million endowment fund. Levine Leichtman Capital Partners will run $10 million, and Landmark Advisors will run $5 million, said Ed Donahue, controller. Funding will come from cash. Consulting Services Group assisted.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota State Board of Investment, St. Paul, committed $10 million to Affinity Capital, a local venture capital manager, and $40 million to Gold Hill Venture Lending, which provides loans to venture capital managers. Funding for both will come from cash.

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Highway & Transportation Employees' & Highway Patrol Retirement System selected real estate managers Urdang & Associates and Och-Ziff Capital to run $15 million each, said Larry Krummen, CIO. Urdang will run a value-added account for the $1.3 billion system, and officials are finalizing the contract with Och-Ziff, which will handle an opportunistic portfolio, Mr. Krummen said. Funding will come from rebalancing. Summit Strategies assisted.

Separately, the plan hired Acadian Asset and Julius Baer to run $130 million and $106 million, respectively, in active all-cap international equities, Mr. Krummen said. Partial funding will come from terminating United Missouri Bank, which runs a $172 million active large-cap international equity mandate, because trustees wanted to diversify the plan's international holdings, he said. Additional funding will come from reducing a Northern Trust S&P 500 index fund, now worth $180 million. Deutsche Asset's transition management group was hired to move the money, he said.

GLENDALE, Calif. — Nestle USA Inc. hired Pareto Partners to manage $150 million in a currency absolute return strategy for its $2.1 billion pension fund, according to a press release from Pareto. Karin Brodbeck, manager-retirement investments for the fund, declined to provide details. Russell assisted.

WORTHINGTON, Ohio — The Laborers District Council and Contractors Pension Fund of Ohio hired David L. Babson to manage $40 million in small cap-growth equities, said Jack Shaw, business manager, Labor District Council of Ohio. Funding came from rebalancing, Mr. Shaw said. He would not provide further details.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State Teachers Retirement System rehired Bank of New York as global custodian. Bank of New York will provide global custody and foreign exchange services for the $54 billion system's $12 billion in international holdings, said Kevin Heine, BNY spokesman.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System hired Wellington Management to run $500 million in a "diversified inflation portfolio" of Treasury inflation-protected securities, energy bonds and commodities as an inflation hedge, according to Sean Sanderson, spokesman. The $24.7 billion system also hired Salomon Smith Barney for a $450 million emerging markets debt mandate. Funding will come from cash.

Separately, the fund committed up to $50 million to Oak Investment Partners XI. The $24.7 billion system also made follow-on commitments of up to $50 million to Bain Capital VIII and up $30 million to Gryphon Partners III.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — PNM Resources Inc. hired Grantham, Mayo, van Otterloo to run $40 million in active international equities, said Ed Jeung, director of trusts and corporate investments. The $430 million pension plan terminated Marvin & Palmer and Lazard Asset Management for performance, Mr. Jeung said; they ran $20 million each in a similar style. Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting assisted. Steve Gannon, director of marketing and client service at Marvin & Palmer, and Rich Silverman, spokesman for Lazard, declined to comment.

MIAMI — Ryder System Inc. hired Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein as the first third-party securities lending agent for its $830 million U.S. pension plan, confirmed Dan Susik, Ryder senior vice president and treasurer..

CINCINNATI — E.W. Scripps Co. hired Russell Investment Group as manager of managers of its $300 million pension plan, said John Wolfzorn, vice president, treasurer and pension committee chairman. Russell replaced eight external managers, which Mr. Wolfzorn declined to identify.

SHREVEPORT, La. — The Shreveport Employees' Retirement System hired Lord, Abbett to run $20 million to $25 million in active domestic small-cap growth equities, pending contract negotiations, said Don Norris, pension manager. The $177 million plan terminated MacKay Shields from a similar portfolio, Mr. Norris said, because trustees were concerned about performance and style drift. MacKay Shields officials did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Also, the plan terminated active domestic bond manager Smith Graham for performance and style drift, Mr. Norris said. Smith Graham ran about $15 million; trustees gave that money to existing manager Tattersall Advisory, increasing its active domestic fixed-income mandate to about $70 million, he said. Ronald Johnson, chief strategy officer for Smith Graham, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Merrill Lynch assisted.

LAS VEGAS — Southwest Gas Corp. hired Hartford Investment Management to run $51 million in core-plus fixed income, replacing McKee Investment, said Ken Kenny, treasurer. Trustees for the $309 million pension plan thought McKee had become too small a firm to run the mandate, he said. Callan Associates assisted.

MENTOR, Ohio — STERIS Corp will add a Principal REIT separate account and the American Funds Growth Fund of America and Vanguard U.S. Value and Explorer mutual funds as investment options in its $192 million 401(k) plan, said Bob Becker, employee benefits director. Trustees are adding the options to fill style gaps, Mr. Becker said. Hartland & Co. assisted.

TEMPE, Ariz. — Sundt Construction Inc. added four Fidelity Freedom funds as investment options in its $10 million 401(k) plan, said Carol Peabody, vice president/treasurer. The plan already offered six Freedom funds, and plan officials added Fidelity's new funds for participants retiring in 2005, 2015, 2025 and 2035, Ms. Peabody said.

CHICAGO — Telephone and Data Systems Inc. added the American Funds Euro Pacific Growth fund as an investment option in its $200 million 401(k) plan and dropped the Putnam International Equity fund, said James Sampson, manager-employee benefits. A manager change on the Putnam fund made it inconsistent with the plan's investment policy, Mr. Sampson said. Ennis Knupp assisted.

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Permanent School Fund hired Mellon Global Securities Services to provide global custody, cash management and securities lending services, according to a Mellon news release. Mellon affiliate Russell/Mellon will provide performance measurement and analytics for the $19.5 billion system.

LIVONIA, Mich. — TRW Automotive hired Fidelity to administer the company's pension plans, including its $700 million defined benefit plan and $150 million 401(k) plan, according to John Wilkerson, spokesman. CitiStreet was the administrator for the defined benefit plan, and Putnam was bundled provider of the 401(k) plan, Mr. Wilkerson said.

SAN FRANCISCO — URS Corp. hired Fidelity as bundled provider of its $921 million 401(k) plan, pending contract negotiations, said Jeff Belfiore, retirement plan manager. Trustees wanted a single provider after recently consolidating three plans: the company's original $688 million URS plan, which had American Express as bundled provider; the $154 million plan of subsidiary EG&G Technical Services Inc., which used Fidelity; and the $79 million plan of EG&G affiliate Lear Siegler Services Inc., which used CIGNA.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Washington State Investment Board picked LSV Asset Management to run an active international value equity portfolio alongside incumbent international value manager Delaware International Advisers. The two managers will run a total of $1.3 billion; the split has not been determined, said spokeswoman Liz Mendizabal. LSV replaces Pyrford International, which ran a $344 million international value portfolio as of March 31, according to the fund's website.

In addition, the WSIB, which oversees the state's $44 billion in pension assets, committed up to $100 million to Oak Investment Partners XI and up to $50 million to OCM Opportunities Fund V. Consultant Pacific Corporate Group assisted.

WINNETKA, Ill. — The Winnetka Police & Winnetka Firemen's pension funds invested a total of $1.8 million, divided equally, in the T. Rowe Price International Stock mutual fund, said Ed McKee, village treasurer. Funding came from new contributions to the plans, which have combined assets of $30 million. Becker, Burke assisted.

CHICAGO — Wolters Kluwer United States Corp. added the Fidelity Capital Appreciation and Calamos Growth funds as investment options in its $440 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan, said Ed Carroll, plan administrator. The plan dropped the INVESCO Dynamics and Putnam Voyager funds, Mr. Carroll said. He declined to give the reason for the change.