Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board, Cheyenne, hired Credit Suisse Asset Management and Octagon Credit Investors to run $500 million each in bank loan portfolios, according to a posting on the board's website.
The board approved investment consultant RVK's recommendation to hire the two managers at its June 6 meeting. The investment consultant conducted a shortlist search of nine initial candidates, according to an RVK memo. THL Credit was the other finalist.
The new hires are the result of the board's long-term application of allocation changes it approved in April 2017, which replaced the credit fixed-income allocation in the funds it oversees with an allocation to bank loans. The credit fixed-income allocation had consisted of 60% bank loans, 20% high yield and 20% investment-grade credit.
How the portfolios will be distributed among the funds the board oversees could not be immediately learned.
The Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board oversees $21 billion in seven state permanent funds, including the $8.1 billion Permanent Mineral Trust, $4.1 billion Common School Permanent Land Fund and $2.2 billion Workers Compensation Fund, and two non-permanent funds, which include the state's $5.5 billion in operating funds.
Patrick Fleming, chief investment officer, did not reply to requests for further information.