The Times Mirror Co., New York, will revamp its $450 million 401(k) plan in 1996 as part of an effort to outsource employee benefit activities, said Mark L. Schwanbeck, assistant treasurer. Input from employees will determine the final design of the plan. The company may shift some administration costs to employees. The company pays all plan fees now.
In addition to the five mutual funds offered now from American Express and American Funds Group, Times Mirror might add more investment options. It also could increase its investment education efforts and possibly add individualized financial planning for participants.
Stewart M. "Butch" Powers Jr. resigned as president and chief operating officer of Seaboard Investment Advisers. Brian Cunningham, a senior vice president in Seaboard's Colorado office, also resigned.
Mr. Powers declined to comment on why he left, but said he is pursuing other opportunities, and is still negotiating with Seaboard about his departure.
Seaboard Chairman Eugene Hansen said he and another staffer will assume Mr. Powers' duties. Last year, Seaboard settled a suit with the SEC over record keeping and publishing performance returns.
Officials for the $5.2 billion Kansas Public Employees' Retirement System, Topeka, are taking "a hard look" at the securities lending program, which is run by Mellon Trust, said Elizabeth B.A. Miller, investment officer.
She said executives for both KPERS and Mellon are working to refine investment guidelines, following Mellon's charge to earnings to cover losses in securities lending portfolios. Mellon Bond Associates has taken over the investment of KPERS securities lending collateral from an investment unit of the Boston Co., she said.
The $5.1 billion real estate portfolio of the California Public Employees' Retirement System had a 2.9% total return for the year ended Sept. 30, fund staff said. The return was below the 4.6% return for the Russell-NCREIF real estate index for the same period. However, the fund reported the total return for the portfolio since its beginning in 1981 was 8.2%, vs. 5.5% for the index.
The New York City Employees' Retirement System has asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a re-hearing in its dispute with the SEC over the agency's ability to let companies exclude certain shareholder proposals from their proxies.
This could delay the Securities and Exchange Commission from once again issuing "no-action letters" on companies excluding some proposals from shareholder ballots on grounds they concern ordinary business matters.
The court probably will decide whether it will re-hear the case in a few weeks, said Jon Lukomnik, deputy comptroller for pensions at New York City.
The case stems from the SEC's decision to let The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. exclude a shareholder proposal regarding employment of gays and lesbians from its proxy.
State Street Bank & Trust merged its five money management units into a single operating unit called Global Investment Management. Nicholas A. Lopardo, chairman of State Street Global Advisors, will lead the new unit.
GIM combines State Street Global; State Street Banque, State Street Brokerage Services, State Street Trust Services and the bank's retirement services unit.
Christopher S. Carabell joined RogersCasey as U.S. equity research manager, a new position.
Mr. Carabell was director of investments for the Boy Scouts of America.
He has not been replaced there yet.
The $52 million City of Manchester (N.H.) Employees' Contributory Retirement System hired three fixed-income managers, according to Bob Stanton, executive director.
Loomis Sayles will run $6 million in a medium-grade bond commingled fund; Income Research & Management will run $8 million in putable corporate bonds; and Morgan Grenfell will run $2 million in a diversified commingled bond fund called Advisors Inner Circle.
Assets came from a terminated fixed-income account managed by First New Hampshire Investment Services.
Prime Buchholz was the consultant.
Making its first move to passive investing, the C$1.3 billion ($923 million) Canadian Airlines International Ltd. pension fund, Calgary, Alberta, hired Toronto Dominion Asset Management to manage several index funds, said Jack Hockin, director-pension investments.
The new manager will run C$275 million ($195 million) in funds indexed to a number of Canadian and U.S. stock and bond indexes.
Funding came from dropping Jarislowsky Fraser, which ran a balanced fund of U.S. and Canadian stocks and bonds.
Frank Russell Canada assisted.
Cazenove & Co. and Barr Rosenberg European Management launched a global smaller companies index.
The index tracks some 7,300 stocks with a total market capitalization of (pounds) 1.187 trillion ($1.887 trillion).
The Cazenove Rosenberg Index covers only liquid small-capitalization stocks in developed markets, subdivided into Europe, North American and the Pacific Region.
Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening, former county executive for Prince George County, said he and three members of his staff will give up pension benefits from their previous county jobs.
The other three former county employees who had left their jobs to work for the governor reportedly were eligible for a collective annual payment of up to $66,000.
Gov. Glendening was eligible for $22,000 a year.
Mark Ahern, senior consultant at SEI, joined Clay Finlay as vice president of client relations, a new position.
Mr. Ahern's duties at SEI are being assumed by other staff members.
