Tulare County Employees’ Retirement Association, Visalia, Calif., is searching for a core-plus fixed-income manager to run about $101 million, said David Kehler, retirement administrator.
The $1.3 billion pension fund is conducting the search after terminating Pacific Investment Management Co. from a similar portfolio at Wednesday’s board meeting.
PIMCO had been on watch for personnel changes since the departure of Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO’s CEO and co-chief investment officer, in January. Mr. El-Erian’s departure and the additional departures of William H. Gross, co-founder and chief investment officer, and Saumil Parikh, portfolio manager, were the reasons for the firm’s termination, Mr. Kehler said.
Investment consultant Wurts & Associates is assisting with the search. Interested managers can contact the consultant. Wurts expects to have a list of firms for the pension fund board to consider by the end of March. A hiring decision could be made in the next six months, Mr. Kehler said.
BlackRock, the other core-plus manager, manages roughly $101 million for the pension fund.
