Martin Slate, executive director of the PBGC, died Sunday, a spokesman in his office said today.
Sources said he died of natural causes; a heart attack is suspected.
Mr. Slate, 50, was appointed to the post in 1993. Before that, he was head of the IRS' employee plans division.
Further details were not immediately available.
Callan Associates' latest five-year capital markets forecast recommends plan sponsors cut their domestic stock exposure by three to four percentage points and redeploy the money in domestic bonds, international stocks and real estate to maintain current risk exposure, said Ronald D. Peyton, president and CEO.
Sponsors looking for higher returns and comfortable with assuming more risk would still find it worthwhile to maintain or increase their domestic equity levels. ``We still expect stocks to earn more than bonds, but not as much as has been the case historically,'' said Michael O'Leary, executive vice president. The consulting firm predicts the S&P 500 index will earn 9.3% annually over the next five years, while domestic bonds will earn 7.2%, creating a spread far less than the historic three to five percentage points, he said.
The SEC today voted 3-1 not to hear an appeal by a group of investors seeking to overturn a decision letting companies omit shareholder proposals on workplace issues.
Members of the ICCR and the Amalgamated Bank of New York Longview Collective Investment Fund filed the appeal asking the commissioners to overturn the staff's decision letting four companies withhold employment-related shareholder proposals. Three of the companies - Shoney's, GTE and Exxon - last week agreed to investors' requests; only AlliedSignal held off.
Tim Smith, executive director of ICCR, could not say whether the group would sue AlliedSignal in court to press for inclusion of the shareholder proposal.
SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and commissioners Issac Hunt and Norman Johnson voted against hearing the appeal; Commissioner Steven M.H. Wallman dissented. Paul A. Belvin, counsel to Mr. Johnson, confirmed the vote.
Short-term institutional asset managers had a median return of 5.55% in 1996, down slightly from 6.09% the previous year, according to the Yanni-Bilkey Investment Consulting CA$H universe. The decline reflected the Jan. 31, 1996, lowering of short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board. Since then, the Fed has held interest rates constant. The CA$H universe represents 115 short-term institutional portfolios and assets of about $178 billion.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters pension fund, Washington, last week withdrew a shareholder proposal asking RJR Nabisco Holdings to stop downward repricing of the exercise price for stock options awarded to corporate executives. The withdrawal came after the company agreed to amend the terms of its long-term incentive compensation plan to bar such changes unless it receives shareholder approval or the company's stock price drops as a result of stock splits.
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass., is considering a broad range of investment opportunities for its $283 million endowment fund, said Janice Albano, director of treasury operations.
The college has $50 million to invest that was in a Odyssey Partners hedge fund, which was liquidated in January. Of that, $10 million already has been placed with existing manager The Common Fund for its new venture capital partnership. Ms. Albano said the fund plans to hire new managers but added it was too early to discuss specific asset classes.
Cambridge Associates is assisting.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System investment committee accepted a report calling for an RFP to be issued March 3 for apartment managers. Final filing date for the RFP is April 15. The RFP is part of the $111.5 billion fund's restructuring of its $7.5 billion real estate portfolio.
CalPERS has about $522 million invested in apartments. Managers that invest in apartments for the fund are LaSalle Advisors, Equitable Real Estate, Metric Institutional, RREEF and Sentinel.
In closed session, the committee also approved a subcommittee's recommendation to approve a strategic plan for industrial real estate. Details weren't available.
WHO'S NEWS
Scott Opsal was named CIO of Invista Capital Management. He replaces S. Ralph Kosmicke, who in 1967 founded the equity management group now called Invista and is a unit of the Principal. Mr. Kosmicke will continue at Invista in investment management as consulting economist and plans to retire in mid-1998. Mr. Opsal was a vice president managing international equities, a portfolio he will keep
