New Orleans City Employees Retirement System hired NWQ Investment Management and Brandes Investment Partners to run $8 million and $6 million, respectively, in active international equities, said Jerry Davis, board chairman. The board of the $382 million plan wanted to expand its international equity holdings. Funding will come from $10 million in S&P 500 ETFs through custodian JPMorgan and $4 million that has been parked in several international equity index funds.
Separately, the board hired Seneca Capital Management and ING Ghent to manage $7.5 million each in active domestic high-yield fixed income, Mr. Davis said. Funding will come from terminating an $11 million Deutsche Asset Management high-yield index fund and from reducing the pension plan's roughly $10 million convertible portfolio run by Advent Capital Management. The fund is eliminating the high-yield fund because the board wants more active management. Mr. Davis noted that Deutsche continues to manage about $25 million in global fixed income for the system.
Morgan Stanley assisted.