SEARCHES & HIRINGS
California Public Employees' Retirement System's investment committee approved to a plan to invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion in new alternative investment partnerships and selected its first investments under the program.
The committee approved: $200 million for Active Value Fund Managers; $75 million for Exxel Capital Partners V; $25 million to Technology Partners Fund VI; and $25 million to Technology Ventures II.
The system's new plan calls for investing in 10 to 15 alternative investment partnerships over the next six months.
CalPERS officials also announced RREEF and LaSalle Advisors were chosen as the fund's industrial property managers. RREEF will manage $495 million of properties in the West and Northwest and LaSalle will manage $312 million in properties in the East. Both funds will co-invest with CalPERS - $10 million for RREEF and $9 million for LaSalle.
In addition, officials said 14 real estate money managers are competing for assignments in running the $124 billion Sacramento-based system's office portfolio. Interviews are expected to be finished by Jan. 12.
KLH Industries Inc., Clinton, Miss., selected Principal Financial Group as administrator and investment manager for its new 401(k) plan.
Principal will provide nine investment choices: a money market fund, guaranteed fund, two balanced funds, four domestic equity funds and an international equity fund. KLH's new plan is expected to have annual deposits of about $1 million.
Greenalls Group plc Pension & Life Assurance Scheme, Warrington, England, picked Schroder Investment Management to manage a £70 million (U.S.$114 million) global balanced portfolio, said David Jack, group pensions manager.
The portfolio had been managed by Gartmore Investment Management, which was dropped because of performance concerns. A spokeswoman for Gartmore confirmed the underperformance. Watson Wyatt Worldwide assisted.
Guardian Insurance & Annuity Co. hired outside managers for a new variable annuity, the Guardian Investor Retirement Asset Manager.
Hired to manage some of the program's 11 options were: Gabelli & Co., domestic equity fund; Value Line, equity fund and asset allocation fund; MFS, domestic equity fund; and Baillie Gifford, core international equity fund and emerging markets equity fund. Guardian is managing five of the options - domestic small-cap equity, core domestic equity, domestic bonds, a cash management fund and a fixed-rate option.
