Taunton (Mass.) Contributory Retirement System hired Mesirow Financial to run $15 million in an active high-yield fixed-income portfolio.
The $376 million pension fund's board approved the hiring at its Aug. 24 meeting, said Paul J. Slivinski, the pension fund's executive director, in an email.
The pension fund issued an RFP in April for core, core-plus and high-yield fixed-income managers to run a total of about $60 million. Additional hires for core and core-plus managers are still pending.
The pension fund's incumbent fixed-income managers — core managers Barksdale Investment Management and C.S. McKee and core-plus manager Manulife Investment Management — are all invited to rebid during the RFP process.
The RFP called for three separate portfolios managed by any combination of core, core-plus or high-yield managers.
The other finalists for the high-yield portfolio were Brandywine Global Investment Management and Manning & Napier.
As of June 30, the actual allocation to fixed income was 17.8%; the target is 20%.
Investment consultant Dahab Associates is assisting.
