Illinois State Board of Investment, Chicago, hired Meketa Investment Group as investment consultant, replacing Marquette Associates, William R. Atwood, executive director, said in an e-mail.
The $15 billion ISBI issued the RFP seeking to re-evaluate its investment consultant arrangement because six of its nine trustees have joined the board since the beginning of the year, said Marc Levine, chairman, in an interview.
Mr. Levine said Meketa will undertake an asset allocation study in the next three to six months, as well as re-evaluating existing managers. New allocation proposals could include new asset classes and potential searches for new managers, Mr. Levine said, adding, “We will let them come to us” with ideas.
“All three finalists — Marquette, Meketa and RVK — did very well through the RFP process,” Mr. Atwood said. “Ultimately, the board decided to move forward with Meketa.”
Mr. Levine said, “We wanted a fresh perspective, a fresh look at the portfolio. It wasn't a lack of confidence in Marquette, whom we like. Marquette was there 12 years. We wanted a fresh pair of eyes.”
“For me, I was really impressed with (Meketa's) approach generally, and also with respect to the evaluation of risk in the portfolio and with the creative way of differentiating active managers from closet indexers and … a framework to evaluate the role of hedge funds in the portfolio.”
ISBI has a 10.3% actual allocation to hedge funds.