Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund , Indianapolis, could search...

Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund, Indianapolis, could search for a private equity adviser as a result of the $4.8 billion pension fund's plans to double its private equity allocation to 10% of assets, said Steffanie Rhinesmith, investment officer-equities. The plan's board could decide by the end of February whether to search for a new manager to oversee a new $240 million allocation and make investments with private equity managers or to assign it to Portfolio Advisors, which oversees the existing program. Portfolio Advisors will continue to oversee the original 5% investment. Callan, the fund's consultant, is assisting in the evaluation, she said. Funding will come from reducing domestic equity probably proportionally among managers. "Private equity is such a long-term commitment, it will take three to five years to fund that (new allocation)," Ms. Rhinesmith noted.