Chicago Municipal Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund hired Garcia Hamilton & Associates and National Investment Services as active domestic core fixed-income managers, pending contract negotiations, Steve Yoon, investment analyst, said in an email.
The $4.2 billion pension fund issued an RFP in January for due diligence purposes to see if it could add value to the portfolio, Mr. Yoon said at the time. Other finalists were C.S. McKee, Piedmont Investment Advisors and William Blair & Co.
Portfolio sizes and funding sources have yet to be determined and may be addressed at the July 19 board meeting. The pension fund's current fixed-income managers and portfolio sizes as of May 31, are:
- Core managers LM Capital Group and UBS Asset Management at $263 million and $68 million, respectively;
- Core-plus manager Neuberger Berman, $52 million;
- High-yield managers MacKay Shields and Crescent Capital Group, $165 million and $56 million, respectively; and
- Senior secured loans manager Symphony Asset Management, $201 million.
The actual allocation to fixed income as of May 31 was 24.7%; the target is 27%.
Investment consultant Marquette Associates assisted.
