St. Louis Firefighters' Retirement Plan hired Garcia Hamilton & Associates to run a $10 million active global fixed-income portfolio, pending contract negotiations, said Janice Fairless, human resources specialist for the pension fund.
The $22 million pension fund issued an RFP in December.
The Firefighters' Retirement Plan was created Feb. 1, 2013, the same day that benefit accruals were frozen in the $445 million St. Louis Firemen's Retirement System. All assets are temporarily in two Vanguard Group index mutual funds. Garcia Hamilton would be the plan's first active manager.
Other finalists were Johnson Institutional Management and Longfellow Investment Management.
Separately, the pension fund named Great Lakes Advisors, Kennedy Capital Management and SouthernSun Asset Management as finalists in its search for a domestic smidcap equity manager to run $3 million to $5 million.
They will be interviewed at a special board meeting sometime in May.
Investment consultant Dahab Associates is assisting.
