Heitman Capital Management dropped its plan to restructure all 18 of its real estate commingled funds into three property-specific private REITs after investors overwhelmingly opposed the plan. This is the second time in less than two years that pension funds and endowments have scuttled Heitman's attempt to restructure or roll up properties into private REITs.
The decision was announced to clients last week. The funds had 314 investors representing about $2.4 billion of real estate.
The House of Representatives Thursday passed legislation that would convene a national summit on retirement savings at the White House. It also would direct the Labor Department to educate the public on retirement savings through an Internet Web site, town hall meetings and educational materials. The legislation was introduced by Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D. Companion legislation is pending in the Senate.
Mr. Pomeroy also introduced legislation that would create a commission to examine the extent of the retirement savings crisis and recommend ways to help secure retirement benefits of older workers.
The House Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials Thursday passed legislation requiring stocks to be traded in decimals instead of in increments of one-eighth. The bipartisan legislation will be debated by the House Commerce Committee next month. The bill requires the SEC to adopt a rule switching the stock markets to decimal trading within a year after passage.
BARRA formed a unit that will consult to investment managers. BARRA Strategic Consulting Group combines the former RogersCasey Manager Services with BARRA analytical support. BARRA Strategic will assist money managers in business development, relationship management strategy, investment integrity review, market research and other areas. John Casey will lead the new group.
FTSE International is launching six new style indexes for the U.K. stock market using style methodology developed by Frank Russell Co. The offerings will be separate value and growth indexes for the FTSE 350, FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 indexes. The new indexes will start in June 1997 but will have historical data back to December 1996. FTSE International is owned equally by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.
The City of San Jose (Calif.) will issue RFPs in June for bundled and unbundled service providers for its $200 million deferred compensation plan. Pam Mathus, chairwoman, said the committee will evaluate responses before deciding which approach to take. RFPs are due in July, with an evaluation conference scheduled the same month. Aetna and ICMA now provide record keeping, administration and some investment management, while some assets are managed internally.
University & Community College System of Nevada, Reno, is searching for a single fixed-income manager for its $180 million endowment fund.
The fund currently uses Sanford Bernstein, the Common Fund and Grantham, Mayo van Otterloo for its $50 million fixed-income portfolio, but wants a single manager that can offer different types of investments, said Tim Ortez, director of banking and investments. The search should be completed by the end of June. Cambridge Associates will compile a list of candidates. The three existing managers are being considered.
