Merced County (Calif.) Employees' Retirement Association hired Champlain Investment Partners to manage $28 million in active domestic small-cap core equities.
The $961 million pension fund's board approved the hiring at its meeting Thursday, said Kristen Santos, retirement administrator.
The pension fund had recently completed a domestic equity structure review that resulted in a shortlist search for a small-cap manager with a higher tracking error than the strategies of current small-cap managers Dimensional Fund Advisors and PanAgora Asset Management, according to board meeting materials.
The board on Thursday also approved terminating the two managers, which ran $28 million and $16 million, respectively, in active domestic small-cap core equities, Ms. Santos said. The remaining assets will go toward rebalancing.
As of Aug. 31, the actual allocation to domestic equities was 29.4%.
Investment consultant Meketa Investment Group assisted.
Separately, the board on Thursday approved committing $8 million to buyout fund GTCR Fund XIII.
As of Aug. 31, the actual allocation to private equity was 5.2%.
Private equity and hedge fund consultant Cliffwater assisted.
