Alameda County sticks with Verus, commits to Sycamore Partners

Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association, Oakland, Calif., rehired Verus Advisory as general investment consultant, said Michael Fara, pension fund spokesman.

The $7.8 billion pension fund issued an RFP in July to review the market following the 2016 merger between Verus and Strategic Investment Solutions, which had been the pension fund's consultant since 2002.

Meketa Investment Group and NEPC were also finalists.

Separately, the pension fund committed up to $44 million to buyout fund Sycamore Partners III. The pension fund previously committed $42.5 million to Sycamore Partners II in 2014.

The pension fund's target allocation is 28% domestic equities, 26% international equities, 18% private equity and alternatives, 15% fixed income, 8% real estate and 5% real assets.

As of Sept. 30, the actual allocation was 32.3% domestic equities, 30.8% international equities, 16.8% fixed income, 9.8% private equity and alternatives, 6.6% real estate, 3.6% real assets and 0.1% cash.

All hires and commitments are pending completion of legal due diligence, background investigations and successful contract negotiation.