Oregon Investment Council hired Guggenheim Partners, Putnam Investments and Schroder Investment Management North America to each manage up to $600 million in separately managed fixed-income accounts.
The council runs the $75.3 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, Tigard.
Guggenheim will manage a total-return strategy investing in structured fixed-income securities, according to material for the councils Sept. 9 meeting. Putnam will seek above-average returns by identifying market inefficiencies, and Schroder will invest in a total-return strategy accessing prepayment, credit and liquidity risk premiums.
The council made the selections following its decision in December to de-risk its $14 billion fixed-income portfolio by lowering exposure to U.S. corporate debt, adding emerging markets debt, global sovereigns and boosting its exposure to structured credit.
Assets for the hires came from reductions in investment-grade and non-investment-grade bonds. The selections were made following an invitation-only search.
Separately, the council committed another $300 million to Ascentris-OR Partners, an existing separate account managed by real estate firm Ascentris. The account now has about $700 million in equity.
The council also plans to commit $1.5 billion to $2 billion to real assets strategies in fiscal year 2021. Council officials expect to make five to 10 commitments of $150 million to $250 million each to real assets, which includes infrastructure and natural resources, according to its real asset review.
