Hirings

ATLANTA — The Association County Commissioners of Georgia hired Optimum Investment Advisors to manage $30 million in active domestic midcap core equities for the organization's $450 million pension plan, said James Grubiak, general counsel. Optimum replaces another manager Mr. Grubiak declined to name. Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown assisted.

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Atlas Advisers hired OFI Institutional Asset Management to subadvise the Atlas U.S. Government and Mortgage Securities Fund, said company spokeswoman Jeaneen Pisarra. The fund, formerly managed in-house, has about $278 million in assets.

BOSTON — Bank of America's Global Wealth & Investment Management division hired State Street Corp. as custodian and fund accountant for its mutual fund complex, which includes its Nations and Columbia fund families, said spokesman Tom Gariepy.

WILMINGTON, Del. — Brandywine Asset Management hired State Street Corp. to provide accounting, performance measurement, portfolio administration, trade support and investor reporting services for Brandywine's $2.25 billion in managed account portfolios, according to Frank Natale, director of the private client group at Brandywine.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Clean Energy Fund, a new $30 million public benefit investment fund, hired three venture capital firms to manage most of the money. It invested $8.5 million each with Nth Power, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and VantagePoint Venture Partners. Each firm will also invest $8.5 million of its own in the CalCEF projects.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The University of California hired 15 active domestic large-cap equity managers to run a total of $5.4 billion, according to a document posted on the university treasurer's website for a Feb. 15 investment committee meeting. Funding came from reducing a Russell 3000 tobacco-free index fund managed by State Street Global Advisors, leaving it with $22 billion.

Hired last fall to run large-cap core portfolios were: Capital Guardian, $377 million; Franklin Portfolio, $486 million; Freeman Associates, $269 million; Thornburg Investment Management, $376 million; and Victory Capital, $270 million. Hired for large-cap growth were: Ark Asset Management, $376 million, Goldman Sachs, $430 million; INTECH, $434 million; Transamerica Investment Management, $325 million; and Wellington Management, $322 million. Hired for large-cap value were: Harris Associates, $377 million; Hotchkis and Wiley, $432 million; LSV Asset Management, $270 million, NWQ Investment Management, $270 million; and Pzena Investment Management, $375 million.

The firms were hired to run assets for the $42 billion University of California Retirement Plan, the $5.1 billion general endowment pool, and the system's 403(b) plan, which is an undisclosed part of $8.5 billion in university defined contribution assets.

The university expects to hire nine to 12 international managers to run $1.9 billion shortly. Further information was not available.

Richards & Tierney was the consultant.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The $186.9 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System approved a €75 million ($96 million) commitment to Advent International GPE V at closed session on Feb. 14, according to a summary of actions taken.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia Retirement Board hired Wellington Management to run $30 million in REITs, said Sheila Morgan-Johnson, board chief investment officer. Funding will come from reducing the $2.9 billion pension plan's exposure to passive domestic equities. Watson Wyatt assisted.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Golden LEAF Foundation hired Mellon Financial to provide domestic custody, accounting, performance analytics and cash management, confirmed Ray Jacobson, vice president of investment for the $400 million fund. The previous custodian was Wachovia.

ZOETERMEER, Netherlands — Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering hired Acadian Asset Management to run €240 million ($322 million) in international equities and T. Rowe Price Global Investments to run €160 million in an enhanced U.S. equity index portfolio, effective April 1. The €1.8 billion scheme funded the hirings by terminating F&C Netherlands, which ran €400 million in global equities, for performance and diversification reasons, said Petra Blonk, the plan's senior manager-asset management. F&C Netherlands' global equity portfolio was part of a balanced mandate that the plan decided to break up in order to diversify and appoint specialist managers. F&C continues to manage fixed income and indirect property for the plan, Ms. Blonk said.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The State of Illinois Employees' Deferred Compensation Plan chose Legg Mason Value Trust, LSV Value Equity Fund and T. Rowe Price target-date retirement funds as investment options for the employee-directed $2 billion fund, said William Atwood, executive director, Illinois State Board of Investment, Chicago, fiduciary to the plan.

The Legg Mason fund replaces the Fidelity Fund, in which plan participants have $262 million invested. The LSV and T. Rowe Price funds are new and increase the plan's investment options to 14 from 12.

Iron Capital assisted with the searches.

CHICAGO — Illinois State Board of Investment hired Commonwealth Realty Advisors to manage $60 million in real estate, pending contract terms, said William Atwood, executive director of the $10.7 billion fund. The firm will run a separate account to invest in property in Illinois. The move is part of an asset allocation strategy the board adopted last year, and funding will come from reductions to fixed income.

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

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana State University hired hedge fund-of-funds managers Mesirow Financial Advanced Strategies and Arden Asset Management to run about $6 million each for the school's $340 million foundation, said Philip Griffith, investment director. The foundation also hired AllianceBernstein to manage $6 million in emerging markets equity.

Funding for all the managers will come from reducing the foundation's internally managed fixed-income investments. The changes are the result of an asset allocation study conducted by consultant CRA RogersCasey.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota State Board of Investment hired a new private equity manager, Elevation Associates, to run $75 million. Howard J. Bicker, executive director, said the fund also made follow-on commitments to Merit Energy, $100 million; The Banc Funds, $50 million; Blum Capital Partners, $75 million; and Chicago Growth Partners, $50 million.

He did not disclose how much each manager already handles for the $43.5 billion defined benefit plan pool. Funding will come from cash.

NEW YORK — Muirfield Capital Management hired Bear Measurisk to provide risk aggregation, measurement and monitoring services, confirmed Vince DeGiaimo, Muirfield's chief operating officer. He said the fund-of-funds manager previously handled those functions in-house.

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement hired New York Life Investment Management to run $145 million in a domestic large-cap equity enhanced index strategy that seeks to beat the Russell 1000 index, said Christopher McDonough, investment officer. The investment is new for the $4.3 billion fund. Funding came from reducing existing passive equity investments, Mr. McDonough said. No managers were terminated. Fiduciary Investment Solutions assisted with the shortlist search.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System will invest up to €20 million ($26.78 million) in BC European Capital VIII, said David Kushner, deputy director of investments. Funding will come from cash.

This will be the $12.7 billion system's third investment with BC Partners.

BOSTON — Tufts University hired alternatives consultant Cliffwater to help Tufts staff set an "optimal asset allocation" for Tufts' $748 million endowment plan and another $200 million in reserves, given the university's "substantial commitment to alternative assets," said Chief Investment Officer Sally Dungan.

Tufts doesn't have a general investment consultant, and its relationship with Cliffwater will be "narrow and specific," said Ms. Dungan.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The $5.3 billion Wyoming Retirement System hired PIMCO to manage a $100 million absolute-return portfolio, said Thomas Mann, director. Funding for the allocation, the system's first absolute-return investment, will come from rebalancing; no managers will be terminated, Mr. Mann said.

An RFP was issued in January after the system's investment committee recommended the strategy to further diversify investments and decrease volatility. Mellon's Human Resources & Investor Solutions assisted.