ASB Community Trust, Auckland, New Zealand, hired Cambridge Associates as its consultant, replacing Russell, according to Investment & Technology newspaper.
Eugene Snyman, head of Cambridge's Sydney office, confirmed the appointment by the NZ$800 million (US$589 million) fund, New Zealand's largest charitable trust.
Mr. Snyman said Cambridge has begun reviewing ASB's existing portfolio and would soon embark on a full strategic asset allocation review. “That may result in some changes in policy and underlying managers ... it's too early to say now,” he said.
Officials at ASB Trust were not available for comment.
BAA pension goes with Cardano for asset allocation
BAA Pension Scheme, Horley, England, hired Cardano to advise the £2 billion ($3.25 billion) plan on asset allocation, manager selection and liability hedging among other investment-related services, according to a news release from Cardano.
BAA has been struggling under the weight of its pension liabilities. In the nine months ended Sept. 30, BAA said the increase in the defined benefit deficit resulted in a loss of £261.7 million — or almost half of the company's total operating loss, according to company data.
“We need to manage our funding level,” Gordon Dewar, chairman of BAA trustees, said in the release. “We are looking to achieve good investment returns, but also to control the risks relative to our liabilities.”
Mr. Dewar and Alastair Knowles, secretary to the trustees at BAA, could not be reached for further information. Phil Page, client manager at Cardano, also could not be reached for comment by press time.
Aberdeen gets the call
Cardiff (Wales) and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund hired Aberdeen Asset Management to run a £25 million ($40.5 million) active emerging markets equity portfolio, said Richard Bettley, pension fund manager.
The portfolio is the £950 million fund's first dedicated emerging markets equity strategy.
Funding came from £15 million in cash and a £10 million reduction in a U.K. passive equity strategy managed by BlackRock, to £130 million.
The plan's overall overseas equity allocation was increased to 30% from 27%, while U.K. equity was cut three percentage points to 37.5%, according to Mr. Bettley.
Consultant bfinance advised.
Dumfries and Galloway hires Threadneedle, KBC
Dumfries (England) and Galloway Council Pension Fund hired Threadneedle and KBC Asset Management to each manage equal mandates of about £14 million ($23 million) in pooled active real estate strategies, said Andrew Ewart, treasury and insurance officer.
Both managers will run U.K. and/or overseas real estate for the £450 million plan, according to Mr. Ewart.
Funding will come from reducing to £113 million a global fixed-income portfolio managed by Aberdeen Asset Management.
Consultant Hymans Robertson advised.
Legal & General gets £40 million passive global equities mandate
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Pension Fund, London, hired Legal & General Investment Management to run a total of up to £40 million ($64.5 million) in passive global equities and passive index-linked U.K. gilts, according to Tenders Electronic Daily.
Funding came from cash. Hymans Robertson assisted.
Paul Kidd, head of financial services at the £400 million fund, could not be reached for further comment.
LACERS commits up to $20 million to private equity fund
Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System committed up to $20 million to American Securities Opportunities Fund II, according to a notification to the board by Hamilton Lane, private equity consultant for the $9.69 billion system.
The fund focuses on investments in financially stressed companies as well as company turnarounds, restructurings and bankruptcies.
State Street gets custodian job at MD Physician Services
MD Physician Services Inc., Toronto, hired State Street Corp. as custodian for the C$15.6 billion (US$14.6 billion) MD family of funds, a group of 22 proprietary mutual funds, confirmed State Street spokeswoman Alicia Curran Sweeney.
Along with custody services, State Street will provide fund accounting and fund valuation among other investment services.
Ms. Sweeney would not say who State Street succeeded at MD. A spokesman at MD Physician Services could not be reached for comment.
New York puts $250 million into emerging-markets hedge fund
The $126 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, invested $250 million in an emerging-markets hedge fund run by Finisterre Capital.
The investment in the hedge fund makes the New York fund the largest single investor in Finisterre, which now has a total of $920 million under management, Paul Crean, chief investment officer of Finisterre, said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Crean said the new hedge fund serves as a feeder fund for three other Finisterre funds. Mr. Crean said the New York fund has been an investor for more than two years for Finisterre's global opportunity fund. He declined to say how much New York had invested in the global opportunity fund.
Calls to the New York state comptroller's office were not returned.
GMO, J.P. Morgan, Franklin Templeton get mandates from Orange County
Orange County Employees Retirement System, Santa Ana, Calif., invested $100 million each with global equity managers Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo; J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Franklin Templeton, according to Robert Kinsler, spokesman for the $7.5 billion system.
The board designated GE Asset Management as an alternate in case contract negotiations with one of the three other firms fail, Mr. Kinsler wrote in an e-mail response to inquiries.
The system originally planned to invest a total of $200 million in global equity but opted to follow an investment committee recommendation to increase the investment by $100 million and hire a third manager “in order to take advantage of the investment opportunity in the global markets” and to diversify investment philosophies and processes, Mr. Kinsler wrote.
The board also hired Waddell & Reed Asset Management to run $120 million in large-cap growth equity, with Jennison Associates as a standby manager.
The previous manager of the large-cap growth portfolio, Peregrine Capital, was terminated for performance. John Dale, senior vice president, portfolio manager at Peregrine, said: “We never comment about clients — past, present or future.”
The board also placed William Blair's $178 million emerging markets equity markets portfolio and Cadence Capital's $190 million U.S. equity large-cap growth portfolio on watch for performance.
Separately, system officials are considering whether to add a director of investments. In a presentation to the board, Steve Delaney, the system's CEO, recommended the new position saying the person in the post would develop a multiyear comprehensive strategic vision for the system's investment portfolio. The investments director would oversee the chief investment officer position.
The board is expected to make a decision later this year, Mr. Kinsler wrote.
The system returned 17.84% for the year ended Nov. 30.
SocGen U.S. plan hires Putnam for its 401(k)
Societe Generale Savings and Retirement Plan U.S., New York, hired Putnam Investments as bundled provider for its $220 million 401(k) plan, Putnam said in a news release.
Putnam said it will provide customized communications, payroll-integrated record keeping and on-site education for participants in the Societe Generale U.S. plan, which covers more than 3,000 U.S.-based employees.
ING Group, the plan's previous provider, was among the finalists, said William R. Chetney, president and CEO of National Retirement Partners, which advised Societe Generale.
Mr. Chetney said in an interview that Putnam was chosen due to its “competitive pricing” as well as its consumer education programs. Another selling point was Putnam's ability to improve the administrative efficiencies, thus “reducing the workload on the HR staff.”
A call to Societe Generale's New York office wasn't returned by press time.
Joseph Loparco, director of external communications for ING, said the company had no comment.
Union goes with MassMutual
United Association Local 614 Pension Fund, Memphis, Tenn., hired MassMutual Retirement Services as bundled provider for the union's $51 million Taft-Hartley retirement plan, confirmed Lisa Reilly, a MassMutual spokeswoman.
Robert Sproles Jr., business manager for Local 614, did not return a call seeking further details.
Vanguard picks Sanders Capital as subadviser to Windsor II
Vanguard Group hired Sanders Capital as a subadviser to the $35 billion Vanguard Windsor II fund, confirmed Vanguard spokeswoman Amy Chain.
Sanders will oversee about 8.5% of the fund's assets. Lewis A. Sanders, Sanders CEO and co-CIO, and John P. Mahedy, co-CIO and research director, will manage the firm's portion of the large-cap value fund.
Mr. Sanders was chairman and CEO at AllianceBernstein before he was dismissed in December 2008; he formed Sanders Capital last year. Mr. Mahedy was chief investment officer of U.S. and North American value equities at AllianceBernstein until October.
Sanders' portion of the fund is expected to include 35 to 40 stocks.
The Windsor II fund returned 27.1% for the one-year period ended Dec. 31, an annualized -6.3% for the three-year period, and an annualized 0.8% for the five-year period, according to a Vanguard news release.
Ms. Chain said Sanders will be the sixth subadviser to the fund, joining Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss; Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group; Hotchkis and Wiley Capital Management; Armstrong Shaw Associates; and Lazard Asset Management. No existing subadvisers were terminated, she said.
