Fresno County (Calif.) Employees' Retirement Association selected Loomis, Sayles & Co. to manage part of its core fixed income portfolio, replacing Western Asset Management, according to minutes from the March 5 board meeting.
Loomis Sayles was chosen at the Feb. 5 board meeting.
In a Feb. 5 letter from Donald Kendig, retirement administrator, to the board of retirement, he cited “organizational issues” at Western Asset, along with the core bond portfolio’s “underperformance” as reasons for wanting to replace Western Asset. Western is a division of Franklin Templeton.
However, Western Asset was allowed to make a presentation to the board for their core bond management services, along with another asset manager, Capital Research and Management Co.
As of Dec. 31, FCERA had two core fixed-income managers: Western Asset (managing $333 million in assets) and J.P. Morgan Investment Management ($327 million in assets). These portfolios each represented 4.8% of the pension fund’s assets.
Kendig confirmed that Loomis Sayles will only replace the core bond assets formerly managed by Western Asset. FCERA has about $6.9 billion in assets.
