Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System, Oklahoma City, terminated Chase Investment Counsel, which ran $310 million in active domestic large-cap growth equities for the system, for performance and organizational reasons, said James R. Wilbanks, executive secretary of the $8.3 billion system.
Chase Investment had been “on notice” in October, which had triggered a 90-day review. Chase Investment was terminated following a recommendation from the system's general consultant, gregory.w.group, Mr. Wilbanks said. The money likely will be split between existing large-cap managers Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Sawgrass Asset Management.
Along with the portfolio's performance, the manager was terminated because of the departure of Chase's chief investment officer, David Scott. Former CIO Derwood Chase Jr. has stepped in to fill the position until a replacement is found.
Mr. Chase said the year ended Sept. 30 was “one of the biggest performance discrepancies in the history of the stock market.”
“We stay with quality and good fundamentals, and when they return to favor we should do better,” he said.
Separately, the system took domestic value equity manager Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management off its “on alert” status to “in compliance” because of improved performance, Mr. Wilbanks said. The firm runs $289 million in large caps and $250 million in midcaps.
General consultant gregory.w.group assisted, Mr. Wilbanks said.
