Emerging money management firms interested in managing federal retirement plan assets are getting help from some Democratic members of Congress.
Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., announced a congressional working group to provide oversight on addressing structural barriers to federal investment management contracts.
The announcement came after a Thursday briefing on Capitol Hill, where chief investment officers and other officials from several public and private-sector retirement systems, including the $440 billion Thrift Savings Plan, Washington, and $181.7 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, discussed best practices for increasing participation by women- and minority-owned firms.
Noting that states such as California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York and Texas have set up emerging manager programs for pension fund assets, Ms. Waters said in a statement that the working group will push to change barriers “that for far too long have kept high-performing minority- and women-owned asset management firms out of federal retirement plans and endowments.”
In May, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. launched a pilot program for smaller asset managers to run between $50 million and $250 million each in U.S. core fixed income.
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees the TSP, will consider a proposal later this month to add a mutual fund window that would add more opportunities for emerging managers, spokeswoman Kim Weaver said.