Rhode Island State Investment Commission, Providence, approved terminating seven hedge funds, announced state Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who chairs the commission.
Rhode Island will fully redeem $534 million from investments with Ascend Capital ($69.2 million), Brevan Howard ($75.7 million), Brigade Capital Management ($59.7 million), Emerging Sovereign Group ($41.1 million), Partner Fund Management ($79 million), Samlyn Capital ($106 million) and Och-Ziff Capital Management ($103.3 million). In addition to the seven full redemptions, the commission also decided to reduce its exposure to Viking Global Investors by 50%, to $51 million.
The reduction in Rhode Island's hedge fund exposure comes following last month's adoption of a new asset allocation to refocus the $7.7 billion Rhode Island Employees' Retirement System, Providence, on investments expected to provide growth, reduce volatility and strengthen retirement security. In September, the treasurer announced that more than half of the current 15% hedge fund allocation would be redeemed and transferred to “more traditional asset classes.”A majority of the hedge fund redemptions are expected to be completed by the end of the current fiscal year.
Rhode Island's pension fund has returned 6.2% in the calendar year through Sept. 30, outperforming its benchmark by 43 basis points.
