The State of Wisconsin 457 plan is considering a stable value manager search early next year. The Wisconsin fund is seeking to diversify its current stable value offering now with Great West Life, said Mary Willet, assistant director of deferred compensation.
Also, the investment committee of the $700 million plan will recommend the addition of T. Rowe Price Mid Cap Fund to its investment mix, she said. She said the fund either will replace the Seligman Capital Fund or will be offered as an additional option. She said the Seligman fund is closed to new investments for performance reasons.
Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, Little Rock, restructured its $1.4 billion fixed-income portfolio following a review, said Kie D. Hall, executive director.
Officials at the $3.2 billion fund terminated J.P. Morgan, which has run $185 million in core fixed income. Loomis, Sayles, the fund's other bond manager, now will run $500 million in core fixed income and $70 million in high-yield bonds. Loomis had managed $630 million in an active-duration bond portfolio; that portfolio was eliminated. Loomis continues to manage a total of $1 billion for Arkansas - including $430 million in U.S. equity - $60 million less than before the restructuring.
Also hired for $70 million each were: J.&W. Seligman to manage high-yield bonds; Wellington Management, mortgage-backed securities; and Prudential Timber, timberland. A review of the equity portfolio is expected to be finished early next year.
Consolidated Freightways Inc., Menlo Park, Calif., will increase its fixed-income investments and decrease its stock allocation for its defined benefit plan, said Linda Lester, cash manager for the $230 million fund.
The more conservative allocation stems from an asset allocation study conducted by Strategic Investments Solutions and from a change in demographics after a company spin-off. Ms. Lester would not release the new asset mix. No manager changes are expected.
Colonial Advisory Services turned in the best performance in the fixed-income managed accounts arena for the year ended June 30, according to the latest PIPER report. The firm's high-yield securities composite jumped 16.77% for the year. Loomis, Sayles ranked second with its medium-grade composites, which advanced 15.39% for the year. In the quarter, NISA Investment Advisors' long-duration managed account placed first wtih an 8.89% return.
Among commingled bond funds, Union Central Life Insurance's $90 million Carillon Bond portfolio was the best performer for both the year, up 22.76% and the quarter, up 9.83%
TIAA-CREF opened up its Rollover IRA program to the spouses of the 2 million participants it services in the higher education and research institutional market. The program also is open to active and retired employees of K-12 public school employees and their spouses. The same 10 investment options offered to active 403(b) plan participants are available to IRA customers.
SEARCHES & HIRINGS
Arizona State Retirement System, Phoenix, put its $14.8 billion in externally managed assets up for bid, as required by state procurement laws, and may bring $500 million in U.S. fixed-income investments in-house before year end, said Paul Matson, senior investment manager. Mercer Consulting will handle the RFP process for the $17.3 billion fund, which will include all 10 external managers with 18 mandates. It is expected to be completed by early next year.
The fund now runs $2.5 billion in U.S. equities internally. Officials will decide if fund staff will manage part of its U.S. bond mandate.
California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, picked its existing consultants, Hamilton Lane and Pacific Corporate Group, for the $124 billion system's $2.7 billion alternative investment program.
Pending fee negotiations, Hamilton Lane will be the primary consultant for partnerships and co-investments, and Pacific Corporate will be consultant for "independently sourced'' alternative investments, those not offered by general partners.
The board also approved the staff selection of 65 U.S. equity strategies from 58 money managers as finalists in the first phase of a search for about 10 U.S. equity managers. The first phase was based on quantitative measure. A second qualitative selection will be made; responses to the qualitative questionnaire are due Sept. 19.
Frank Russell hired Barclays Global Investors, Fiduciary Trust International and Westpeak Investment to run its first multi-manager mutual fund for non-U.S. investors. The U.S. Small Cap Equity Fund, domiciled in Ireland, will be offered initially to French investors through a distribution agreement with Societe Generale Asset Management.
Maryland State Retirement Systems, Baltimore, with $23 billion in assets, is proceeding with investing $100 million in Greenway Partners, a shareholder activism fund, confirmed Peter Vaughn, executive director. The fund, which has already plowed in $50 million, is using available cash, he said
