Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, Columbus, hired Barings to run about $180 million in active international small-cap equities.
The $17.2 billion pension fund's investment committee approved the hiring at its meeting Wednesday, said spokesman David Graham in an email.
Funding comes from a passive international equity portfolio managed by Russell Investments, where the assets have been parked since the April 2020 termination of active international small-cap equity manager Franklin Templeton.
The pension fund terminated Franklin Templeton at the time due to performance concerns; Franklin Templeton spokeswoman Stacey Coleman did not provide comment at the time.
As of Jan. 31, the actual allocation to international equities was 17.8%.
Separately, the pension fund committed up to $125 million to KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund, an open-end core infrastructure fund focusing on North American, Western European and developed Asian opportunities, managed by KKR & Co.
As of Jan. 31, the actual allocation to real assets was 3.4%.
Finally, the pension fund placed Bridgewater Associates on watch for its $888 million global macro account. Part of the pension fund's domestic equity portfolio alpha strategy, Bridgewater's portfolio is a combination of its Pure Alpha fund and S&P 500 futures, Mr. Graham said.
The pension fund place the manager, originally hired in 2007, on watch due to performance concerns and capacity concerns in relation to its assets under management.
Bridgewater spokeswoman Ryan FitzGibbon declined to comment.
As of Jan. 31, the actual allocation to domestic equities was 21.7%.