Ann Arbor (Mich.) Employees’ Retirement System invested $9.4 million with 36 South Capital Advisors and $2.8 million with Och-Ziff Capital Management Group in hedge fund strategies managed by each firm, said Nancy R. Walker, executive director, in an interview.
Ms. Walker did not specify in which hedge fund strategies the pension fund invested. She did not respond to an e-mail request for more information about changes to the pension fund’s hedge fund program, referenced on the Sept. 18 meeting agenda.
Minutes from the board’s Aug. 5 investment committee meeting showed that the board received an educational program on “the allocation, construction and ongoing monitoring of a direct hedge fund program,” from the pension fund’s consultant, Meketa Investment Group. The minutes said the committee “decided to pursue future education and presentations by potential managers in the upcoming months.”
As of March 31, the pension fund had a 5%, or $21 million, allocation to hedge funds, with $9.7 million invested in BlackRock Multi Manager Partners (Offshore) fund; $5.8 million invested in Optima Fund; and $5.5 million invested in Orion Futures Fund, a March 31 performance report showed.
Separately, the pension fund terminated Thornburg Investment Management for management of $26 million in active international equities.
Trustees of the $473 million pension fund approved the Thornburg termination and the transfer of the assets to a Northern Trust EAFE index strategy at their Sept. 18 board meeting. The change is part of the pension fund’s move to more passive investment management, Ms. Walker said.
Northern Trust Asset Management managed a total of $204 million in five passive domestic equity and bond strategies as of March 31, the fund’s first quarter performance report showed.
