Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Oak Brook, terminated BlackRock, which managed $950 million in its core bond enhanced index fund, according to an e-mail from Linda Horrell, spokeswoman for the $30.1 billion pension fund.
The money was moved to Northern Trust Global Investments' core bond index fund, which will run about $2.34 billion for the pension fund after the transfer.
The move was made because pension fund officials wanted the same broad market exposure at a lower cost; NTGI's fund is passively managed, while the BlackRock fund is both actively and passively managed.
“We will consider any other changes to the fixed-income portfolio within the context of our asset-liability study, which is expected to be completed in November,” according to the e-mail.
The pension fund's board approved the action at its June 28 meeting.
