W. Virginia chooses 2 specialist consultants

West Virginia Investment Management Board, Charleston, hired Franklin Park Associates as private equity consultant and Albourne Partners as hedge fund consultant, said H. Craig Slaughter, the board’s executive director. The board also hired a real estate consultant but Mr. Slaughter would not identify the firm pending contract negotiations. The board, which oversees $10.5 billion in state assets, including $9 billion in pension money, added the consultants in response to a change in state law earlier this year that cleared the way to invest in alternatives. “We will look to them (the new consultants) for a broad range of advice on this (alternative) space,” Mr. Slaughter said.