Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Columbus, hired American Century Investments and Boston Partners Global Investors to run about $240 million each in active domestic midcap value equities, said Tony Gottschalk, spokesman, in an email.
The bureau issued an RFP in November 2019 for active domestic midcap value equity managers to run a total of 2% of overall assets for the $24 billion State Insurance Fund.
The bureau, which oversees a total of $26.6 billion in insurance funds, issued the RFP after the termination in January 2019 of Sasco Capital and Systematic Financial Management, two of the SIF's three active midcap domestic equity managers, which ran a combined $355 million at the time. The terminations were due to personnel changes at both firms.
The third active manager, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss, did rebid for the services but the board voted Friday to terminate the manager. In a memo to the board, RVK said Barrow Hanley has had meaningful asset outflows through the losses of significant clients and was not identified as a top candidate through the RFP process.
As of Sept. 30, Barrow Hanley ran about $174 million for the state insurance fund. Assets from the two previously terminated managers have been parked in a domestic midcap equity index fund managed by transition manager Russell Investments. As of Sept. 30, that portfolio had about $249 million in assets.
Investment consultant RVK assisted.
