Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, Boston, will not extend its contract with general consultant Wilshire Associates, said Eileen O'Connor, a spokeswoman for state Treasurer Timothy Cahill. The $36.5 billion pension fund will announce its new general consultant Friday at its regularly scheduled board meeting; Ms. O'Connor would not identify the new consultant.
MassPRIM was poised to sign a new three-year contract with Wilshire at the end of 2003 but delayed the decision, at first over news reports that raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, and later when senior consultants left Wilshire to help launch a new alternatives consulting firm, Cliffwater. MassPRIM extended Wilshire's general consulting contract on a monthly basis since the end of 2003.
"We valued our relationship with the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board and wish them well," Julia Bonafede, senior managing director at Wilshire Associates and the head of Wilshire Consulting, said in an e-mailed response to questions. "We will continue to provide all of our clients with the high level of quality service and counsel for which Wilshire Consulting is known."
