Ann Arbor City Employees
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Ann Arbor City Employees' Retirement System hired its first small-cap value and microcap value managers, said Robb Hubbs, retirement administrator for the $280 million fund. Loomis, Sayles will manage $6.75 million in the small-cap value portfolio; Schwartz Investment Counsel will manage just over $750,000 in microcap value.
Funding came from terminating Ariel Capital Management, which had run part of the fund's 15%small-cap allocation. Fund officials wanted more specialized approaches.
Callan Associates assisted.
Canadian Medical Association
OTTAWA - The Canadian Medical Association's MD Management Ltd. hired four managers for its C$1.2 billion (U.S. $890 million) MD Equity Fund, said Ron Bannerman, vice president, MD Management.
It hired Mawer Investment Management, a small-cap manager; J.R. Senecal & Associates Investment Counsel, a large-cap manager; and O'Donnell Investments and McLean Budden, both midcap managers.
The four new managers, which replace Mackenzie, will run 80%of the fund, investing in Canadian stocks.
Templeton, which was retained, runs 20%of the fund, investing in non-Canadian stocks. Mr. Bannerman declined to say how much of the fund each of the Canadian managers will run. Brockhouse & Cooper assisted in the changes.
Carpenters Combined Benefit
BOSTON - The Carpenters Combined Benefit Funds of Massachusetts' $500 million pension plan hired Putnam to manage $10 million in an OTC emerging growth portfolio. This is the fund's first small-cap growth equity allocation. Other finalists were Keystone Investments and Bankers Trust.
Carter Marketing Group
TROY, Mich. - Carter Marketing Group Inc., added three Kemper Horizons funds to its 401(k) plan, bringing the total options to 10, all managed by Kemper.
Kathryn Brattain, controller, said the funds give the plan more diversification and offer investment strategies for participants in three different stages of retirement. Nordstrom Pension Consulting assisted.
Essex County
SALEM, Mass. - The Essex County Retirement Board, Salem, picked three emerging domestic equity managers from the five finalists it interviewed in July, said Cynthia Kendall, chief executive assistant. They are: CastleRock Capital Management, $3 million in small-cap stocks: Hutchens Investment, $3 million in large-cap stocks; and Sector Capital Management, $1 million in a core S&P 500 portfolio that is style neutral and sector neutral. Funding came from cash.
Segal Advisors assisted.
The system has $113 million in assets.
Federated Department Stores
CINCINNATI - Federated Department Stores hired Putnam Investments to manage a $63 million allocation to midcap domestic equity for its $1.4 billion defined benefit plan. RogersCasey assisted. Further information was not available.
Hamilton, Brook, Smith
LEXINGTON, Mass. - Hamilton, Brook, Smith and Reynolds hired Schwab Institutional to provide bundled services for its $4 million plan. The firm's 70 employees will be able to invest in nine core mutual funds from multiple fund families as well as in a self-directed brokerage option. Schwab also is providing daily valued record keeping, trust, administration and employee communications, said Laurie Cohen, the law firm's controller. A money purchase plan will be added.
The plan previously offered five mutual funds and a self-directed brokerage option, all managed by Merrill Lynch. KPMG provided quarterly record keeping.
The change to Schwab was made in order to get access to a wider range of mutual funds from outside fund families, said Ms. Cohen.
Iron Workers District Council
BOSTON - The $150 million Iron Workers District Council, New England pension fund hired State Street Bank to manage an S&P 500 stock index fund, said Hugh Shaw, director-investments.
It replaced Harbor Capital Management, a large-cap stock manager.
The amount of the assignment was unavailable.
ITT Industries
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - ITT Industries added four options to its $1.1 billion 401(k) plan - the Putnam New Horizon Fund, an aggressive growth fund; the American New Perspective Fund, a global equity fund managed by Capital Research and Management; a long-term corporate bond fund from Vanguard; and a value equity fund from Sanford C. Bernstein. The fund now has eight options.
Plans to change options had been in the works since ITT split into three separate companies in 1995, said Jerry Bloom, director of employee benefits. Hewitt was the consultant.
Memphis Light, Gas, & Water
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The $700 million Memphis Light, Gas, & Water Division pension fund hired two managers for alternative strategies and may search for more, said John W. McCullough, manager-cash management. In addition, it added to the assignment of an existing alternative manager and changed the assignment of a fourth.
The fund hired Olympia Management to run $2 million in arbitrage strategies in convertible, high-yield, mortgage-backed and other fixed income securities. Also, it hired Stonewall Sentinel to run $2 million in a low volatility strategy using futures and options.
It increased the assignment of Clearwater by $10 million, giving it $16 million in all, for alternative equity strategies. Also, it changed the assignment of Heinhold to run arbitrage trading from another alternative strategy.
Assets came from reallocation among managers. Further details about the assignments were unavailable.
Middlesex County
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Middlesex County Retirement System, Cambridge, picked Harbor Capital Management to manage stock distributions from its venture capital funds, said Nancy O'Neill, investment coordinator for the $385 million fund.
It also committed $2 million to New England Growth Fund II, a venture capital fund, and $1.5 million in the UBS World Timber Fund.
The system plans to use money from a maturing venture capital investment to fund the New England investment, and has set aside assets for the timber fund.
New England Funds
New England Funds hired Loomis Sayles, Montgomery Asset Management, Harris Associates and Robertson Stephens to manage a new fund, scheduled to begin investing Dec. 31. Each manager will be assigned 25%of the assets of the New England Star Small Cap Fund. It will invest at least 65%of its assets in companies with a market capitalization of less than $1 billion.
New Haven Employees
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - New Haven Employees Retirement Fund hired Bankers Trust as global custodian for the $111 million fund, replacing Fleet Bank. The fund decided to change custodians because of plans to invest in international equity for the first time, said Gwendolyn Bell, pension administrator. Other finalists were Bank of New York, State Street Bank, First Union and Fleet. Watson Wyatt assisted.
New Haven Police and Fire
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - New Haven Police and Fire Pension Fund, with $171 million in assets, committed $20 million to a Morgan Stanley Asset Management international equity commingled fund.
This is the fund's first international investment, said Gwendolyn Bell, pension administrator. Bank of Ireland was the other finalist. Funding came from cash flow. Callan Associates assisted.
Portfolio Management
DENVER - Portfolio Management Consultants Inc. added two new managers and gave additional mandates to existing managers, subject to contract negotiations.
For its almost $1 billion wrap account and asset allocation program, the firm added Dreman for small-cap value and Boston Co. Asset Management for large-cap value.
In its private account business for clients with at least $1 million, it has given Roxbury an additional mandate of running a small-cap growth portfolio. The firm already managed a mid- to large-cap growth portfolio.
Weiss, Peck & Greer, which already manages state-specific municipal bond portfolios, will manage quantitative tax-efficient large equity portfolios, with only 25 holdings and very low turnover.
ProCoil Corp.
CANTON, Mich. - ProCoil Corp. hired Putnam to manage a bundled 401(k) plan for union and non-union employees, said Christopher Swartwout, controller. He declined to give the size of the plan. Putnam replaces KPMG Peat Marwick, which had provided record keeping, and Fidelity, the plan's investment manager. Nordstrom Pension Consulting assisted.
Quaker Family of Funds
VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - The Quaker Family of Funds, a new group of no-load mutual funds, selected several managers. Fiduciary Asset Management will run an enhanced equity index fund and a fixed-income fund; Chester Capital Advisors will run a core equity fund; DG Capital Management will run an aggressive growth fund; Aronson + Partners will run a small-cap value fund; and Logan Capital Management will run a sector allocation equity fund.
Seattle Deferred Compensation
SEATTLE - The Seattle Deferred Compensation Plan hired Fidelity Investments as its bundled service provider, replacing Public Employees Benefit Services Corp., said Claudia Gross, benefits analyst. The plan has more than $100 million in assets;
no further details were available.
Saint Joseph's Medical Center
YONKERS, N.Y. - Saint Joseph's Medical Center hired Bank of New York to manage its $5 million in self-insurance fund assets. Previously, the local branch of the bank had been the custodian of the fund, which was managed internally. The bank now has the responsibility of investing the fund's money in short-term instruments, said James Curcuruto, vice president of finance at Saint Joseph's. The bank was chosen based on its longstanding relationship with the medical center, he said.
SEI Corp.
WAYNE, Pa. - SEI Corp. selected 27 money managers to subadvise five asset allocation funds to be marketed to defined contribution plan sponsors. The funds will be advised and monitored by SEI.
Alliance, IDS and Provident Investment will run large-cap growth stocks. Mellon Equity, Pacific Alliance Capital (formerly Merus) and LSV Asset will run large-cap value. Running small-cap growth stocks will be Furman Selz, First of America, Nicholas-Applegate and Wall Street Associates. Boston Partners and 1838 will run small-cap value.
Picked for core international equity are: Acadian, Farrell-Wako, Morgan Grenfell, Seligman-Henderson and Yamaichi. Montgomery; Parametric; Yamaichi International Capital, Yamaichi's emerging markets unit; and Coronation, a South Africa-based manager, will run emerging markets equities.
Core fixed-income managers are BlackRock, Western and Firstar. BEA will run high-yield bonds. Strategic Fixed Income will manage international bonds, and Wellington will manage cash.
Syncsort Inc.
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. - Syncsort Inc. hired Schwab Institutional to provide 12 diversified mutual fund options and bundled services to its $20 million 401(k)/profit-sharing plan, said Steve Kutz, vice president of finance.
The hiring coincides with a change to a participant-directed plan from an employer-directed one. Previously, all assets were invested in a domestic equity fund managed by a firm Mr. Kutz didn't identify.
Schwab also is providing daily valued record keeping, trust and administration and employee communications and investment education.
City of Thornton
THORNTON, Colo. - The City of Thornton hired ICMA Retirement Corp. as a bundled provider for both its general employees' and policemen's defined contribution retirement plans, confirmed Charlie Long, administrative services director.
The City of Thornton Employee Pension Plan and the Police Pension Plan have approximately $10 million each in assets. The plans previously were managed by the First Interstate Bank of Denver, Mr. Long said.
"We made the change because we had our 457 plan through ICMA and our 401(a) plan through First Interstate and we wanted to bundle them together," Mr. Long explained. As a result of the change, Thornton's employees will now be able to invest their retirement money in as many as 25 different options, up from four offered by the First Interstate Bank.
Travelers Life and Annuity
HARTFORD, Conn. - Travelers Life and Annuity Co. named investment managers for Goldtrack, a new 401(k) product designed as a group variable annuity for companies with up to 250 employees. The product features 32 investments provided by 14 fund managers: Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, MFS, PBHG, Alliance, Janus, Dreyfus, Putnam, Smith Barney, Travelers, Neuberger & Berman, Lazard Freres, Founders and Federated. Goldtrack also offers a fixed portfolio.
UFCW Local No. 1262
CLIFTON, N.J. - The pension fund of United Food and Commercial Workers Local No. 1262 hired Conseco Capital Management and INVESCO to manage $25 million each in U.S. fixed income. The fund also allocated an additional $15 million to a convertible bond portfolio managed by Calamos Asset Management, bringing its total to $40 million. Assets came from terminating Hamilton Allen & Associates and reducing a portfolio managed by Smith Affiliated Capital. Those changes were the result of rebalancing the $225 million fund's fixed-income allocation, said Michael Consora, administrator. Smith Barney Consulting assisted.
Western Reserve Life
LARGO, Fla. - Western Reserve Life Assurance Co. of Ohio Inc., which runs $4 billion in variable life and variable annuity products, named two subadvisers. Hotchkis & Wiley will run midcap domestic equity and global equity funds. GE Investments will run a domestic growth and income fund and co-advise an international equity fund with Scottish Equitable, a firm owned by Aegon, the parent of Western Reserve.
Westwood Endowment
INDIANAPOLIS - Westwood Endowment Inc., Indianapolis, hired The Investment Fund for Foundations to manage equities and fixed income in a manager-of-managers style, said Richard A. West, president of the $5.5 million endowment.
