Spokane (Wash.) Employees' Retirement System hired Loomis Sayles & Co. to manage $16 million in active domestic core-plus fixed income and BlackRock to run $6 million in an active high-yield fixed-income portfolio.
The $322 million pension fund's board approved the hirings at its June 7 meeting, recently released meetings showed.
Funding for the Loomis Sayles portfolio comes from the termination of a passive core fixed-income portfolio managed by Fidelity Investments. The Fidelity investment was a placeholder for a fixed-income search, according to the minutes.
The BlackRock portfolio is being funded by a reduction in the portfolio of existing high-yield manager Hotchkis & Wiley, leaving it with about $15 million.
As of March 31, the pension fund's actual allocations to total-return bonds and high-yield bonds were 12.7% and 6.6%, respectively; their respective targets are 17% and 8%.
Investment consultant Hyas Group assisted.
Christine Shisler, interim retirement director, could not be immediately reached for further information.
