Sacramento County (Calif.) Employees' Retirement System terminated Mondrian Investment Partners from managing a $153 million active emerging markets equity portfolio and $81 million active international small-cap equity portfolio.
The $11.8 billion pension fund's board approved the terminations in closed session at its Sept. 21 meeting, according to materials for the pension fund's board meeting Wednesday.
In the disclosure of the termination prepared by Chief Investment Officer Steve Davis, the board authorized the staff and investment consultant Verus Advisory to park the assets with State Street Global Advisors in the interim and conduct a search for a replacement for Mondrian's international small-cap portfolio.
Mr. Davis could not be immediately reached for further information on the international equity search. The board meeting agenda includes a recommendation from the staff to hire value manager ARGA Investment Management and core manager Oaktree Capital Management to run $192 million each in active emerging markets equities. According to the agenda, an emerging markets equity search began in June, and the other core finalists were Ninety One and Schroders, and the other value finalists were AllianceBernstein and Pzena Investment Management.
The disclosure included with the board meeting materials did not provide a reason for the termination.
As of June 30, the actual allocation to global public equities was 38.7%; the target is 40%.
