North Dakota State Investment Board, Bismarck, terminated an active global equity portfolio managed by Calamos Investments, according to recently released minutes of the Oct. 25 board meeting.
Calamos was terminated for performance and personnel changes, and the assets will be transitioned to an existing Epoch Investment Partners global equity strategy. As of June 30, Calamos managed $54 million in the strategy and Epoch, $201 million. Calamos spokeswoman Jennifer McGuffin could not be reached for comment on the termination.
The board, which oversees $7.8 billion in assets, also shifted several international equity portfolios. A $197 million EAFE index fund managed by The Clifton Group and $48 million enhanced EAFE index fund managed by State Street Global Advisors were transitioned to a passive MSCI World ex-U.S. strategy. Active core emerging markets equity strategies managed by UBS Global Asset Management and PanAgora Asset Management were also transitioned to a passive strategy as the board conducts a search for a new manager. UBS and PanAgora managed $22 million and $16 million, respectively, as of June 30.
It could not be learned what managers received the new passive allocations. The board is continuing to work at restructuring its global equity portfolio by reducing the number of managers to reduce fees, tracking error and complexity, according to the minutes.
Darren Schulz, deputy chief investment officer, did not return telephone calls seeking additional information.