New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association, Santa Fe, terminated active domestic small-cap value equity manager Wells Capital Management and moved the assets to domestic small-cap value manager Dimensional Fund Advisors and a State Street Global Advisors index fund, said Jonathan Grabel, chief investment officer for the $14.4 billion pension fund.
The pension fund terminated the $120 million portfolio managed by Wells’ Pelican Value Equity team, formerly Metropolitan West Capital Management, because the original team that worked with New Mexico PERA departed to start another firm, Mr. Grabel said.
Some $45 million of Pelican’s portfolio will be invested with Dimensional Fund Advisors, increasing its allocation to $160 million. The balance will be invested with SSgA, which currently manages $1 billion in an MSCI ACWI Investment Market index fund before the addition of Pelican’s assets.