CalPERS today renewed its contract with primary investment consultant Wilshire Associates for three years. The current contract expires June 30. The $183.6 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, has the option of option of renewing the contract twice. R.V. Kuhns was the other finalist; CalPERS will assign special projects to R.V. Kuhns.
Separately, the board approved a staff recommendation to add Barclays Global Investors, Baring Asset Management and JPMorgan Asset Management to a new enhanced index international equity pool and to add PanAgora Asset, New Star Asset, Boston Co. Asset and Alliance Capital for an active international equity pool. The amount of funding has not been determined. The managers comprising both pools will be reviewed annually. The board also gave staff more flexibility for the system's internally managed currency overlay program, allowing a 20% to 30% overlay to the system's $41 billion in international equities, instead of the flat 25% hedge previously applied.
The system also will search later this month for an undetermined number of environmentally friendly public equity managers to run up to $500 million in combined assets. The board approved a staff recommendation for the search but will allow emerging managers with experience in the field to apply as long as they have had institutional clients. Staff members had wanted managers that already run at least $100 million in the category. Finalists would go before the board in October, according to a staff memo.
