Investment Management Weekly articles from April 2005

Investment Management Weekly archives from April 2005

Montana Board of Investments May Face Legislative Probe.
April 4, 2005... Lawmakers in Montana are hoping to launch an investigation to determine whether the decisions made by the State Board of Investments can be partly blamed for two of the state's public funds $1.2 billion deficit. Republican Leader Roy Brown and...

CalSTRS to Adopt Emerging Markets Policy: Manager Searches May Soon Follow.
April 4, 2005... This week, the California State Teachers' Retirement System's investment committee may end a two-year discussion of the pension fund's emerging markets portfolio by adopting a new investment policy and issue RFPs to identify six new emerging...

Oklahoma Cops Shake Down Manager.
April 4, 2005... The $1.3 billion Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System is preparing to terminate an investment manager due to restructuring and performance issues, said Bob Wallace, executive director. He declined to name the beleaguered manager, or...

Arizona SRS Reviews International Equity.
April 4, 2005... The $20.8 billion Arizona State Retirement System is conducting a comprehensive review of the international equity asset class, said Gary Dokes, CIO of the plan. Dokes declined to provide additional details on the review, but said that the...

Permanent Fund On Prowl For Consultant.
April 4, 2005... The $29.8 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has issued an RFP for consulting services. The fund intends to hire a general consultant and could consider establishing a pool of consultants for special project consulting, second opinion...

Utility Plan Changes Allocations, Consultant.
April 4, 2005... The roughly $750 million East Bay Municipal Utility Retirement has created new allocations to emerging markets and collateralized debt and hired Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA) as its new investment consultant, said Lloyd Sawchuk, treasury...

Taft-Hartley Fund Sues Toy Store.
April 4, 2005... The Iron Workers of Western Pennsylvania Pension and Profit Plans has filed a lawsuit against Toys "R" Us-home of mascot Geoffrey Giraffe- to prevent the retailer's $6.6 billion sale to Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co., Bain Capital Partners and...

CalPERS Picks Consultant Finalists.
April 4, 2005... Ennis Knupp & Associates and R.V. Kuhns & Associates, along with incumbent Wilshire Associates will vie to be the primary consultant for the $183 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System during the plan's next investment committee...

Virginia Fund Selects REIT Finalists.
April 4, 2005... The $1.6 billion Fairfax County Educational Fund is in the final stages of selecting a REIT manager, said Executive Director Alan Belstock. At a recent meeting, the board named AEW Capital Management, Urdang Securities Management and...

Former Putnam Pro Returns Home.
April 4, 2005... Sandra Whiston has rejoined Putnam Investments as head of institutional sales and relationship management after an eight-month absence. Whiston, who was most recently an executive VP of investment services at Fidelity Management Trust Co.,...

Industry Veteran Joins Hedge Fund Shop.
April 4, 2005... Doreen Mochrie, managing director of U.S. institutional business at Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, has joined the New York-based fledgling hedge fund firm Cyrus Capital Partners as its new partner and chief marketing officer. Mochrie will...

Fla. Guns & Hoses Plan Postpones Real Estate.
April 4, 2005... The $860 million Jacksonville Police & Fire Pension Fund has placed the brakes on a $45 million value-added real estate search and may potentially revamp the mandate, Executive Director John Keane said last week. The search, which marked...

Fidelity Eyes Bigger Clients; Spins Off $102B Institutional Arm.
April 4, 2005... Fidelity Investments is investing $100 million to spin off its institutional investment arm in an effort to rein in new assets from pension funds, endowments and other large foundations. The Boston-based firm, already known for its strong...

Senator Pushes Legislation to Keep Private Equity Private.
April 4, 2005... California State Senator Joe Simitian is expected to introduce legislation onto the floor this week that would allow the state's public pension fund managers, including the University of California, California Public Employees' Retirement...

Survey: Healthcare, Large-Cap Set for Boom.
April 4, 2005... The results of Russell Investment Group's recent Investment Management Outlook asserts that large-cap growth, international equity, emerging markets and healthcare stocks are set to take a positive turn in the markets. Seventy-one percent...

Funds Confab On Green Investing.
April 4, 2005... Over 300 institutional investors, academics and environmental advocates attended a two-day conference co-sponsored by the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System on environmental...

Principal Global Investors Grows Institutional Business.
April 4, 2005... Principal Global Investors (PGI), the $138 billion investment management arm of the Principal Financial Group (PFG), has grown in the past few years through acquisitions and new institutional investment management mandates. The company has...

Odds & Ends.
April 4, 2005... *Stephen Crawford and Zoe Cruz have been named co-presidents Morgan Stanley, Reporting to Morgan Stanley chairman and CEO Philip Purcell, the duo will be responsible for the Institutional Securities, Individual Investor and Investment...

Janus Hires Global Consultant Director.
April 11, 2005... Janus Institutional Asset Management, seeking to boost its visibility and grow assets in the institutional marketplace, has hired Carolyn Patton, as the director of the firm's global consultant relations group. Patton was most recently a...

New Mexico Funds to Expand Alternatives.
April 11, 2005... The passage of a critical bill has three of New Mexico's largest pension funds positioning themselves to increase, or launch initial forays into alternative asset classes. Governor Bill Richardson signed into law House Bill 389, which...

... PERA Gears Up for $1.8B in Searches.
April 11, 2005... The $10 billion New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) has launched a currency overlay search to the tune of $1 billion and will embark on an $800 million large-cap value search at the end of the third quarter, said CIO Bob...

IPERS Launches Consultant Search.
April 11, 2005... The $18.4 billion Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) has launched a search for an investment consultant-a move that could unseat incumbent, Wilshire Associates, said Kathy Comito, plan CIO. IPERS is launching the search as...

Luzerne Monitors Large-Cap Managers.
April 11, 2005... The roughly $178 million Luzerne County Retirement Board is closely "monitoring" two of its investment managers, said Commissioner Stephen Urban. In question are portfolios managed by Berkshire Asset Management and Sands Capital...

Virginia RS Selects New Director.
April 11, 2005... The Virginia Retirement Systems has named Robert Schultze director of the $43 billion fund, spokeswoman Jeanne Chenault said last week. Chenault said that Schultze will be responsible for the day-to-day administrative functions of the...

PSERS Director To Settle Litigation.
April 11, 2005... The board of the $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System has approved a resolution authorizing its executive director to sign a settlement agreement with the Department of the Auditor General, if and when one is...

Pennington to Guide MMI Organization.
April 11, 2005... Mark Pennington, a partner at Lord Abbett, will succeed Peter Muratore as chairman of the Money Management Institute. Pennington joined Lord Abbett's sales and marketing group as a regional sales manager in 1988. In 1996, he became sales...

Pa. Fund Axes Consultant.
April 11, 2005... The $194 million Chester County Retirement Board is said to have terminated its former consultant in lieu of a newly formed entity. Calls to Ray White, chief deputy controller and Carol Aichele, the fund's secretary, were not returned by...

Former AIM CEO Settles With SEC.
April 11, 2005... Jeff Thomas Allen, the former CEO of Advanced Investments Management (AIM), the Pittsburgh-based firm that once managed over $6 billion in pension assets, has agreed to pay a $175,000 fine to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission's...

LACERA Launches CIO Search.
April 11, 2005... The $29.9 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association, has begun a search for a new CIO to replace Kenneth Shaffer, who retired at the beginning of the month. Shaffer has been with the plan since 1995. LACERA's new...

GAM, Man Could Face Hedge Fund Patent Dustup.
April 11, 2005... GAM, the global investment management firm with $38 billion in assets, could be in for a rocky ride and possible monetary damages if its new U.S.-based hedge fund restructuring initiative trips over hedge fund behemoth Man Investment's pending...

Law Firms Are Loving the Scandals.
April 11, 2005... The effects of heightened regulation and unceasing litigation continue to burn Wall Street and corporate America like an unremitting fever according to IMW sister publication Investment Dealer's Digest. To take the Street's temperature, one...

Odds & Ends.
April 11, 2005... *The Securities and Exchange Commission has allowed Newmont Mining, Inc. to omit a shareholder resolution submitted by New York City's five pension funds last November. The resolution asked Newmont Mining to review its policies concerning toxic...

Settlement Reached in Pa.
April 18, 2005... Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner has reached a settlement agreement with the Public School Employees' Retirement System and the State Employees' Retirement System. The new agreement will include special performance audits of the...

Managers May Still Feel Backlash: Governator's Retreat Means Little To Clients.
April 18, 2005... Money managers in support of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiative to privatize California's public pension system may have to face the consequences and repercussions for their actions, despite the Governator's retreat from the measure...

Colorado PERA Continues to Monitor DeAM.
April 18, 2005... The $31.7 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association is "monitoring" Deutsche Asset Management for performance, risk and investment style issues on a $600 million core international equity account. Katie Kaufmanis, plan...

Sacramento Plots More Real Estate.
April 18, 2005... The $4.3 billion Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System may look to invest in new types of real estate going forward, said Jeff States, CIO of the California plan. During a board meeting last month, the plan's consultant, Mercer...

Alabama Treasurer Eyes Fixed-Income.
April 18, 2005... The office of Alabama State Treasurer Kay Ivey, has initiated a search for one or more fixed-income managers to oversee a potential preliminary mandate of $50 million, said Anthony Leigh, deputy treasurer. At present, some $200 million of...

Maryland Sheriffs Hunt For Consultant.
April 18, 2005... The $20.8 million St. Mary's Sheriff's Office Retirement Plan has launched a search for a consultant that could potentially unseat incumbent Prudential Securities. Shelly Bean, procurement specialist for the St. Mary's County Government,...

Chester County To Examine Managers.
April 18, 2005... The Chester County Retirement Board may potentially revamp its manager lineup when it launches a soup-to-nuts review in the upcoming months, Mark Rupsis, director of administration of the Pa.-based plan. The $194 million fund recently...

Massachusetts Fund Seeks Administrator.
April 18, 2005... The $32 million Gardner Contributory Retirement System is mulling resumes to fill its soon to be vacant position of retirement administrator. Calvin Brooks, board chairman, said the search was initiated to replace Ruth LaFreniere, the...

La. May Instate Anti-Terror Invest Law.
April 18, 2005... The Louisiana House Committee on Retirement may investigate the investments of the state's pension funds and possible links to terrorism in the near future. At a recent committee meeting, Chris Holton of the Center for Security Policy...

CalPERS to Shore Up Int'l Equity Portfolio.
April 18, 2005... The California Public Employees' Retirement System's investment committee is expected to sign off on a major boost to its international equities portfolio during a board meeting today. According to a staff memo released last week in...

Union Plan Searches for Investment Pro.
April 18, 2005... The 1199 Employee National and Benefit Fund is searching for an investment analyst to help run its $5.3 billion fund. While an official at the NY-based fund confirmed that 1199 is conducting the search, she declined to comment further and...

Fund Insiders See Social Security Quagmire: Argue Bush Privatization Plan Costly, Inefficient.
April 18, 2005... As lawmakers in Washington continue their high-profile debate over Social Security privatization, mutual fund industry insiders are quietly conducting their own deliberations on the issue. Some experts have said the fund industry could...

Large-Cap Value Could Lead In 2005, Predicts Manager.
April 18, 2005... Large-cap value stocks could have a banner year this year, contends Jon Ferrell, a partner and portfolio manager at the Alpine, Utah-based Marriott Affiliated Capital Partners. While small-cap stocks maintained their leadership in the...

Odds & Ends.
April 18, 2005... *Halcyon Asset Management has appointed Thomas Hirschfeld as its first COO, the $3 billion hedge fund manager announced last week. Hirschfeld joins from J&W Seligman & Co. where he was managing director and COO for investments. At Halcyon, he...

Alaska Fund to Gain More Investment Control.
April 25, 2005... Trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) are one step closer to gaining the right to choose how they invest the assets of the $30 billion fund. House Bill 215 would give the trustees power to pick any investment they want...

Alabama PACT To Issue Close to $400M in RFPs.
April 25, 2005... The $688 million Alabama Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) Trust is gearing up to launch several searches with mandates totaling approximately $400 million. Anthony Leigh, deputy treasurer, said that several manager contracts were...

California Plan Eyes Cap Guardian.
April 25, 2005... The $2.4 billion Ventura County Employees' Retirement Association has placed Capital Guardian Trust Co. on watch for performance issues on a $250 million international equity account, said Van Perris, retirement administrator. The manager,...

Oakland County Studies Assets.
April 25, 2005... The $1 billion Oakland County Employees' Retirement System is in the midst of its first soup-to-nuts asset allocation study, a venture which could lead to changes in the plan's current "plain vanilla" allocation, said Doug Williams, plan...

Tenn. Plan Searches for Consultant.
April 25, 2005... The $1.5 billion Tennessee-based Nashville & Davidson County Metropolitan Employee Benefit Fund has initiated a search for a consultant, a move that could potentially unseat incumbent Segal Advisors. Celia Kirby, plan treasurer, said the...

Texas Fund May Replace Advisor.
April 25, 2005... The $20.9 billion Texas Permanent School Fund will decide whether to search for a new investment consultant at its April 28 board meeting said Debbie Ratcliffe, fund spokeswoman. Contracts for the current consultant-Callan Associates-are...

Jury Sides With Alliance Capital.
April 25, 2005... Ending a nearly four-year legal battle, a Florida jury has ruled in favor of Alliance Capital Management in a suit lodged by the Florida State Board of Administration (FSBA), claiming that the manager was negligent regarding its holdings in...

La. Teachers and Employees Pass Audit: But Fine Dining Must Stop.
April 25, 2005... The results of legislative audits performed on two Louisiana plans are in and all signs point to good investment practices, but fine dining on a money manager's dime must come to an end. The audits were requested last year by the Louisiana...

CalPERS Renews Wilshire Contract.
April 25, 2005... And they say relationships don't last! The $182 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System has renewed its 22-year relationship with Wilshire Associates - for three more years, at least. The plan selected Wilshire from a...

Corporate DB Plans May Go Long With Fixed-Income.
April 25, 2005... The plan sponsor market may soon see a shift in asset allocations as corporate defined-benefit (DB) plans begin to more aggressively shift out of equities into long-term fixed-income investments, experts at Merrill Lynch Investment Management...

Global Credit: Hot Ticket for Institutional Investors.
April 25, 2005... Institutional investors searching for increased yields and diversification within their overall and fixed-income portfolios, may have to look no further than the global credit market, contends Michael Materasso, executive VP and global head of...

Odds & Ends.
April 25, 2005... * Schroders Investment Management North America has added four U.S. large-cap analysts to its New York-based offices. Katherine Breedis and Joanna Shatney both join the firm from Goldman Sachs. Chris Costanza joins from UBS and Tatiana Pohotsky...