AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The $800 million pension fund of American National Red Cross hired Capital Guardian to diversify the international allocation, said Kathleen Kavanagh, senior investment associate-treasury.
It will assign $50 million to a strategy that will blend the ideas of several international portfolio managers in both EAFE and emerging markets.
Funding will come reducing the allocation to Templeton, which had been the pension fund's sole international manager. Templeton now will manage $50 million.
Army & Air Force Exchange
DALLAS - The Army & Air Force Exchange hired Boston Partners to manage $210 million in domestic large-cap value equities for three plans - a defined benefit plan, a supplemental deferred compensation plan and a VEBA. The three plans total $3.9 billion.
The allocation came from the termination of a large-cap value manager, which Mimi Sauers, chief-investments and administration, declined to name.
Wilshire Associates assisted.
Austin Diagnostic Clinic
AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Diagnostic Clinic Association revamped its $53 million defined contribution plan in a move to daily valuation.
Hired were UAM as record keeper and Fleet National Bank as trustee replacing NationsBank, which also managed a bond option and a money market option. The total number of options will increase to 11 from four.
Funds added were: PBGH Growth Fund, a small-cap growth fund; Dreyfus Appreciation Fund, a large-cap growth fund; Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss' intermediate bond fund; Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund; and ICM Small Company Value fund.
GSB Investment Counsel, which managed core equities, and Fayez Sarofim, large-cap growth, also were dropped.
Principal Financial Securities assisted.
Brandeis University
WALTHAM, Mass. - The $285 million endowment of Brandeis University hired Capital Guardian and Silchester International as EAFE international equity managers.
Each will handle $12.5 million. Funding will come from new money and rebalancing.
New England Pension Consultants assisted.
Central Louisiana Electric
PINEVILLE, La. - Central Louisiana Electric Co. selected American Century Investments as bundled provider for its $80 million 401(k) plan.
American Century replaces former trustee State Street Bank and Merrill Lynch as record keeper and investment manager. CLECO will offer eight American Century mutual fund choices as well as a self-directed brokerage account option.
Children's Memorial Medical
CHICAGO - The $340 million endowment of Children's Memorial Medical Center hired John A. Levin to manage a $60 million value equity portfolio, said Paula Noble, assistant treasurer.
Funding will come from a manager with a similar style that was dropped. She declined to identify the manager.
Children's Memorial also hired Western Asset Management to manage $8.5 million in a core fixed-income portfolio for its $26.8 million pension fund, said Ms. Noble. Funding will come from another core manager that was dropped. She declined to identify the manager.
J.H. Ellwood assisted in both searches.
Coltec Industries
NEW YORK - Coltec Industries Inc. hired Bankers Trust to manage $180 million in S&P 500 stock index fund assets.
A Coltec spokeswoman said a portion of the indexed assets is from the firm's $703 million defined benefit plan and a portion from its $305 million 401(k) plan. She declined to elaborate.
Communications Workers
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The $900 million Communication Workers of America/International Typographical Union Negotiated Pension Plan hired three managers to run a total of $170 million.
Hired were: Morgan Stanley, large-cap growth equities; Simms Capital Management, large-cap growth equities (with a 10%international stock component); and Loomis, Sayles, domestic bonds and small-cap stocks.
Funding came from rebalancing. No managers were terminated.
Monitoring and Evaluation Services assisted.
Crown Vantage
OAKLAND, Calif. - Crown Vantage hired Vanguard as bundled provider for its 401(k) plan.
Vanguard will replace State Street Global, which also was strongly considered.
A fund official wouldn't give the size of the plan.
Vanguard will provide about the same number of options - five mutual funds plus two company stock options. The transition will take place April 1. Main & Co. assisted.
Flinn Foundation
PHOENIX - The $160 million Flinn Foundation hired Seigler & Collery to manage $4 million in its SC Fundamental Value Fund, a hedge fund.
The hire has brought Flinn close to its target allocation to alternative investments, said Don Snyder, executive director. Funding will come from cash.
Cambridge Associates assisted.
Horizon Health Systems
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. - The $83 million pension fund of Horizon Health Systems hired Portfolio Analytics as its first consultant to do performance monitoring.
The firm possibly will do an asset allocation study in the future, but is not expected to start such a project right away, said Richard Muszynski, director of finance.
IBM Corp.
IBM Corp.'s Irish and Norwegian pension funds each selected Northern Trust as its first global custodian. Northern, which provides global custody services for IBM's U.K. and Dutch pension funds, also will provide investment policy monitoring and risk and performance measurement services.
Sources said the IBM Ireland fund has about $60 million in assets, while the IBM Norway fund has about $200 million in assets. Officials at IBM Retirement Funds-Europe did not return phone calls.
Illinois Tool Works
GLENVIEW, Ill. - Illinois Tool Works added a Putnam window option to its $750 million defined contribution plan.
The window option will contain 20 Putnam funds, including two that were part of the plan's original lineup, a money market fund and an income fund.
Putnam's S&P 500 Index Fund and International Fund, an equity fund, will be added to the plan's list of nine core funds.
KLA-Tencor Instruments
SAN JOSE, Calif. - KLA-Tencor Instruments selected providers for a new $130 million 401(k) plan formed after the merger of KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments.
Wells Fargo will be custodian and an investment provider. Howard Johnson will provide record keeping.
The plan will contain two Wells Fargo Funds, seven American Funds options, the Putnam New Opportunities Fund, the Seligman Communication and Information Fund and the State Street Aurora Fund, a microcap fund.
Previously, the plans both used American Funds; and Tencor used the PVG Long-Term Growth Fund, which will be dropped, and the Putnam New Opportunities Fund. KLA had a bundled plan through Capital Guardian, which provided record keeping and custody Wells Fargo was custodian for Tencor; Howard Johnson was record keeper.
Merrill Lynch assisted.
Marshfield Clinic
MARSHFIELD, Wis. - Marshfield Clinic hired Sasco Capital as a small-cap value and Rosenberg Institutional as a midcap to large-cap value stock manager for its $525 million money purchase plan.
Sasco will manage $60 million and Rosenberg $25 million, which will come from two portfolios managed by custodian Northern Trust. Northern will retain a small amount of assets in S&P 500 and BARRA index funds, said Tom Bauer, retirement plans manager.
Jeffrey Slocum & Associates assisted.
Maryland Teachers
BALTIMORE - The $1 billion Maryland Teachers & State Employees Supplemental Retirement Plans added two small-cap funds - Delaware Trend Fund and T. Rowe Price Small Cap Stock Fund - and replaced a Fidelity money market fund with a stable value fund managed by Dwight Asset Management.
In addition, the system renewed its contract with Public Employees Benefits Services, its third-party administrator, for five years.
Memorial Sloan Kettering
NEW YORK - The $1.5 billion Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center foundation committed assets to a hedge fund and two venture capital managers.
Harvest Capital will manage $10 million in an event arbitrage hedge fund, Brentwood Associates will run $7 million in an early stage venture capital strategy and Doughty Hanson, $10 million in an LBO fund. Funding will come from cash.
Cambridge Capital Advisors assisted.
Additional commitments are expected to be made within the month.
Middlesex County
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The $440 million Middlesex County Retirement System hired H.C. Wainwright as its investment consultant to replace Hannah, said Nancy O'Neil, investment coordinator. "The board felt it was time for a change. We had been with them since 1989," she said. Also, Advest's recent purchase of the firm influenced the decision to drop Hannah, she said.
One of the first assignments of the new consultant will be to conduct an asset allocation study, which could result in changes in the fund's manager lineup, she said.
Minnesota State Board
ST. PAUL - The $37 billion Minnesota State Board of Investment will retain Richards & Tierney as consultant for the next five years.
The fund had conducted a search because its prior contract with the firm was expiring, said Howard J. Bicker, executive director.
Mount Holyoke College
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The $299 million Mount Holyoke College endowment fund will commit to the Odyssey Partners U.S. private equity fund. The fund will use assets formerly invested in Odyssey's hedge fund, which was liquidated.
Jan Albano, director of treasury operations, would not disclose how much will be committed to the new fund.
NEC America
MELVILLE, N.Y. - The $280 million defined contribution plan of NEC America Inc added the CRM Small-Cap Value Fund, increasing its options to five. The fund, managed by Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, is the plan's first small-cap option.
Towers Perrin assisted.
Orbitex Management Inc.
NEW YORK - Orbitex Management Inc. hired managers for two new funds. BT Fund Managers International and Asia Strategic Investment Management will manage the Orbitex Asian Select Advisors Fund, which will invest in Asian companies excluding Japan.
J.P. Morgan will run an Asian high-yield bond fund.
Those funds, along with three others that will be managed internally, were launched Oct. 6.
Rite Aid Corp.
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Rite Aid Corp. hired Prudential Investments to provide semi-bundled services for the nearly $400 million Profit Sharing and 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan of Thrifty Payless Inc.
Rite Aid acquired Thrifty Payless in December and is keeping the plan separate from its own $300 million defined contribution plan, said Thomas Foley, Rite Aid's director of retirement and savings plans.
Prudential will provide the same plan services used in the Rite Aid plan: daily valued record keeping, administrative services, custody, employee communications and education and some of the 11 investment options.
Seattle City Employees
SEATTLE - The $1.2 billion Seattle City Employees' Retirement System hired ARM Capital Advisors and PIMCO as domestic core fixed-income managers.
Each firm probably will manage $100 million, said Executive Director Roger Howeiler.
Portfolio sizes for the two firms have not been determined because contract negotiations have not concluded.
ARM and PIMCO are replacing Phoenix Duff & Phelps, which also took part in the bidding process
Wurts & Associates assisted.
Sisters of Charity
CLEVELAND - The $260 million foundation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Health System hired Thomson Horstmann & Bryant to manage in excess of $12 million in small-cap value stocks.
The manager was the last of 10 core managers to be hired for the work.
Funding will come from the consolidation of the four regional foundations' cash assets. Mercer assisted.
More asset classes may be added later in the year, depending on what the fund's board decides, said John Faulstich, senior vice president for finance.
Those additional classes probably would be in fixed income
It is not known if new managers will be hired for any new mandates, he added.
Unisource Worldwide
BERWYN, Pa. - Unisource Worldwide hired Bank of New York as master trustee and custodian for its defined benefit plans, with assets of $120 million, said Sandy McCree, director of retirement plans.
The bank replaces CoreStates. CoreStates had been custodian for the plans while they were part of the Alco Standard plan.
Yanni-Bilkey assisted.
University of Tulsa
TULSA, Okla. - University of Tulsa hired Marque Millennium Group Capital Management as a large-cap value equity manager for its $550 million endowment fund. The $8 million portfolio will be funded from equity index fund portfolios, none of which will be dropped. Corporate Consulting Group assisted.
