Hawaii Employees' Retirement System, Honolulu, hired Robeco Group to manage $400 million in global low-volatility equities, said Vijoy Chattergy, chief investment officer.
The allocation will fall under the $14 billion pension fund’s stabilized growth portfolio, which has a 22.5% target. Robeco will join TOBAM, which was selected last month as a low-volatility manager.
The pension fund decided not to move forward with AJO as another low-volatility manager when the contract could not be finalized, Mr. Chattergy said. He declined to provide specifics but noted that the pension fund remains confident in the firm, investment team and strategy.
Ted Aronson, managing principal at AJO, said while it’s disappointing an agreement couldn’t be reached, he could see both sides. He declined to comment further.
Funding for Robeco and TOBAM will come from the equity portfolio, which is being restructured.
In September, the pension fund announced that it was reconsidering the level of active vs. passive management in its equity portfolio, and that it intended to move toward more underlying global strategies.
