Painters & Allied Trades District Council 35 and the Glaziers & Glass Workers Local 1044, both in Rosindale, Mass., are in the process of merging their pension and annuity funds.
The merged organizations will have about $115 million in pension assets and $53 million in annuity assets. Merger agreements are being negotiated, said Sharon Sagany, fund administrator for the Painters.
The glaziers fund now has two managers and the painters fund has seven. Ms. Sagany declined to comment on what, if any, changes would be required after a merger.
The consolidation of the funds' managers is expected to be discussed at the Painters' next investment meeting on Nov. 21.
Gordon Food Service, Grand Rapids, Mich., is studying changes for the record-keeping services for its $150 million combined 401(k) and money purchase plan, said John M. Gordon Jr., manager-finance.
The plan employs three investment managers directly, plus five others through Smith Barney Consulting and about another 20 through Frank Russell. It is considering joining another firm to assist with record keeping, now done in-house, or upgrading its internal system platform or doing a combination of both.
He said it's unlikely the firm would outsource all of the record keeping.
New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund, Utica, allocated an additional $50 million to existing money manager Mitchell Hutchins, to be invested in a yield-enhanced equity strategy, confirmed Peter Carre, fund counsel.
Mitchell Hutchins now manages more than $97 million on behalf of the $1.6 billion pension fund. The allocation was funded with money from a terminated money manager. Mr. Carre declined to identify the manager.
Pennsylvania State Employes' Retirement System, Harrisburg, committed $50 million to the Pennsylvania Capital Fund, which will provide expansion capital to small businesses in the state, confirmed Nicholas Maiale, chairman of the $20 billion system's board.
The fund will be managed by CoreState Enterprise Capital.
Phoenix Duff & Phelps launched two new mutual funds, the Phoenix Growth and Income Fund and the Phoenix Core Equity Fund. The growth and income fund, the first value fund offered by Phoenix Duff & Phelps, will be run by Steven Colton and Dong Hao Zhang, hired in June from American Century. The core equity fund will be managed by Diane Mustain, the manager of an institutional portfolio using the same strategy.
