Hirings

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition Fund hired JPMorgan Chase as master custodian, replacing Compass Bank. Anthony Lee, deputy treasurer, said JPMorgan was selected for its overall proposal, fees and capabilities.

WASHINGTON — The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers hired Marco Consulting as independent fiduciary for its $1.2 billion pension fund, said David Stupar, executive director for the fund. Marco Consulting, which has been the fund's investment consultant for 17 years, will step down from that role when it takes over as fiduciary Jan. 1. The union will hire another consultant, but Mr. Stupar did not provide details.

Jack Marco, chairman of Marco Consulting, said the union is the firm's first independent fiduciary client. He said the firm will make managerial decisions for the fund, easing the burden on the board of trustees.

LONDON — Cazenove Fund Management hired JPMorgan Investor Services to provide global custody, fund administration and other services, confirmed Clare MacKinney, JPMorgan spokeswoman. Ms. MacKinney declined to provide further information.

Officials at Cazenove were not available for comment, but Mike Neilson, chief operating officer, said in a news release that the firm was "keen to rationalize our existing outsource arrangements with a view to consolidating them into a more efficient solution." He said the firm selected JPMorgan "after an extensive appraisal of U.K. service providers."

CHICAGO — Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago hired active international growth equity managers Walter Scott and MacKay Shields to run $60 million and $50 million, respectively, said Terrance R. Stefanski, executive director. The firms replace Oechsle and Nicholas-Applegate, which ran $30 million and $20 million, respectively, in active international growth equities and were terminated for performance. "We enjoyed a good relationship with the plan," said Sue Hunter, Nicholas-Applegate spokeswoman. She added the firm hopes to work with the plan in the future. Joe Stowell, Oechsle spokesman, did not return a call seeking comment by press time.

Trustees for the $6 billion fund also added $30 million to an active international core equity portfolio run by MFS Investment Management, increasing it to $66 million.

Additional funding for the growth and core portfolios will come from reducing fixed income; no other terminations are expected. Becker Burke assisted.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Park Employees Annuity & Benefit Fund hired Principal Realty Investors to manage $25 million in real estate equity, the final step in shifting the fund's asset allocation to include more alternatives, said Joseph Fratto, executive director. Trustees of the $590 million pension plan doubled the real estate allocation to 10% of plan assets this year and finished hiring managers for a new 5% allocation to private equity. The current asset allocation is 42.5% domestic equities, 35% domestic fixed income, 10% real estate, 7.5% international equities and 5% private equity.

CHICAGO — The $3.7 billion Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago hired Chicago Equity Partners to manage $100 million in active domestic midcap equities. Ennis Knupp assisted. Funding will come from terminating Northern Trust Global Investments from an S&P 400 fund, said John J. Gallagher Jr., acting executive director. He said trustees decided to move the midcap allocation back to active management.

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola Co. will add the Thornburg International Value Fund to the company's $1.5 billion 401(k) plan, replacing the Fidelity Advisor Diversified International Fund, confirmed Raquel White, spokeswoman for Coca-Cola. Plan officials took the action because starting Jan. 1, Fidelity is implementing a redemption fee on investments moved out of the fund in less than 30 days, according to a letter sent to plan participants recently. Sarah Fridell, a Fidelity spokeswoman, said no one at Fidelity who is familiar with the Coca-Cola situation was available for comment.

IRVING, Texas — The University of Dallas hired Vaughan Nelson Investment Management to handle $6 million in active domestic small-cap value equities for its $40 million endowment. The investment committee terminated the portfolio's previous manager, Strong Capital Management, primarily because of concerns about management changes following the firm's acquisition by Wells Fargo, said Dale Larson, director of finance. Strong had been on the endowment's watchlist for more than a year because of market-timing allegations against the firm. "The main reason we terminated them was largely due to concerns about how Strong would fit into Wells' large management structure," Mr. Larson said.

Asset Performance Partners assisted.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Teachers' Retirement System allocated $100 million to Carlyle Partners IV, a buyout fund, and $25 million to Shasta Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund. Jon Bauman, executive director, said the board is likely to make more private equity hires at its February meeting, although finalists have not been named. The hirings are part of the $32.7 billion system's ongoing alternative investment program.

HONOLULU — Kamehameha Schools rehired Bank of New York as custodian and securities lending agent for the schools' $5.5 billion endowment, said Kekoa Paulsen, school spokesman. The bank has provided custody for the fund since 1999 and securities lending since 2003, said Kevin Heine, Bank of New York spokesman.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension Plan hired Townsend as the $12.3 billion plan's real estate consultant, said Tom Lopez, chief investment officer. The plan replaced Ronald A. Karp, which is getting out of the real estate consulting business.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The $25.5 billion Missouri Public School Retirement System will invest $175 million in a REIT portfolio run by Urdang Securities Management subject to a final contract, said Craig Husting, chief investment officer.

The hire is another step in implementing a $1 billion real estate allocation, which plan officials approved earlier this year. Funding will come from reducing fixed income, but plan officials have not yet determined which portfolios will be trimmed. Mr. Husting said officials expect to hire additional real estate managers in the coming months, but no details were available.

Townsend Group, the fund's real estate consultant, assisted.

NEW ORLEANS — 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.

ALBANY, N.Y — The $117 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund committed $25 million to a new Palladium Equity Partners private equity fund targeting companies that are Hispanic-owned or serve the Hispanic population, according to a news release from Alan G. Hevesi, state comptroller and sole trustee of the fund. "I am confident that this investment will generate strong returns for the pension fund over the long term while at the same time helping Hispanic entrepreneurs and executives to grow their businesses and contribute to the New York, U.S. and global economies," Mr. Hevesi said. The pension fund has 5.5% of its assets in private equity.

NEW YORK — New York State Insurance Fund hired LSV Asset Management to run a large-cap value equity portfolio for the $7 billion non-profit state workers compensation insurance carrier, pending contract negotiations, said Anne Formel, spokeswoman. The asset size has not been determined.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System committed $425 million to private equity funds, according to Evelyn Tatkovski, spokeswoman. The $47 billion fund committed up to $175 million each to Carlyle Realty Partners IV and Quadrangle Capital Partners II and $75 million to Chrysalis Capital Partners.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System committed up to $35 million to Starwood Global Opportunity Fund VII, according to Sean Sanderson, spokesman for the $25 billion fund.

The fund also made follow-on commitments of up to $30 million to Frazier Healthcare V, bringing its total commitment to $90 million, and up to $75 million to Weston Presidio Capital V, bringing its total commitment to $165 million.

In addition, the board rehired Mellon Equity Associates, which runs a $524 million special equity portfolio for the system, and Standish Mellon, which runs a $240 million domestic bond index fund.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System hired INTECH, Sands Capital, Transamerica Investment Management and Profit Investment Management to run a total of $500 million in active domestic large-cap growth equities, said David Kushner, deputy director of investments. Portfolio sizes will be determined at the $12.5 billion fund's Jan. 11 board meeting.

Partial funding comes from RCM, which ran $225 million in active domestic large-cap growth equities and was terminated because of a "combination of performance and organizational issues," Mr. Kushner said. The remainder will come from other investments, he added.

T.J. Deutz, RCM head of sales and marketing, did not return a call seeking comment.

MINNEAPOLIS — Wabash Capital Management Corp. hired Chicago Equity Partners to manage an $18 million active domestic midcap core equity portfolio. Chicago Equity replaced Independence Investment, said Jerry Trenda, a Wabash spokesman. He did not give a reason for the change and said the family office does not disclose its assets under management. DeMarche Associates assisted.