HARRISBURG, Pa. Pennsylvanias Treasury Department has awarded a combined $400 million to 11 emerging or minority-owned money management firms, part of a broader revamp of the departments operations to improve efficiency and oversight while enhancing returns, said Treasurer Robin L. Wiessmann.
In an interview, Ms. Wiessmann called the emerging managers program a perfect example of her departments efforts to provide more diversification in our portfolio, even as credit markets have buffeted investors over the past year.
The new accounts for the Opportunity Fund the Treasury unveiled in June include $300 million to seven fixed-income portfolios and $100 million divided among five equity mandates.
Bellevue, Wash.-based GW Capital Inc. was the only manager to receive two mandates: a $37.5 million high-yield bond allocation and another $23 million for smidcap value equities.
Five managers received equal core fixed-income mandates of $45 million: Alexandria, Va.-based Hughes Capital Management Inc.; Durham, N.C.-based Piedmont Investment Advisors LLC; Davis Hamilton Jackson & Associates LP and Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP, both in Houston; and Seattle-based Pugh Capital Management Inc.
Utendahl Capital Management LP, New York, will invest $37.5 million for the Opportunity Fund in mortgages, benchmarked to the Lehman Brothers Mortgage Bond index.
Of the remaining equity mandates, three went to Pennsylvania-based managers: Symons Capital Management Inc., Pittsburgh, with $23 million in all-cap value; Biondo Investment Advisors LLC, Milford, with $23 million in all-cap growth; and Cameron Capital Management LLC, Radnor, with $8 million in small-cap core equities. Hanseatic Management Services Inc., Albuquerque, N.M., will manage $23 million in small-cap growth equities.