Monroe County (Mich.) Employees Retirement System hired Lazard Asset Management to run $3 million in emerging markets equity, confirmed Joey Becker, retirement specialist at the $220 million pension fund.
Funding will come from cash.
The board also agreed at its Feb. 26 meeting to redeem a total of $2.8 million from two Seizert Capital Partners equity strategies. The pension fund will redeem $1.7 million from a small-cap strategy this month and then $1.1 million from a midcap strategy over the course of the second quarter. The capital will be transferred to cash. The move is being done to reduce the pension fund's exposure to domestic equities and add exposure to emerging markets.
The current asset allocation is 63% equities, 18% fixed income, 9% real estate, 8% alternative investments and 2% cash.