Imperial County Employees’ Retirement System, El Centro, Calif., hired MacKay Shields to run an $84 million active domestic core-plus fixed-income portfolio, said David H. Prince, retirement administrator.
The $680 million pension fund conducted an invitation-only search for a manager to replace Pacific Investment Management Co., which was terminated Oct. 3 due to the resignation of William H. Gross, PIMCO’s co-founder and chief investment officer. PIMCO ran a total return separate account for the pension fund.
Other finalists were BlackRock, Dodge & Cox and TCW Group.
Investment consultant Wurts & Associates assisted.