Investment Management Weekly articles from April 2007

Investment Management Weekly archives from April 2007

SEC Issues New Enron Charges.
April 2, 2007... The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Jordan Mintz, former general counsel for Enron Corp.'s global finance group and Rex Rogers, former associate general counsel for Enron, with civil securities fraud. The regulatory...

Orange County to Add to Manager Roster.
April 2, 2007... The $6.5 billion Orange County Employees' Retirement System (OCERS) is gearing up to search for absolute return and cash overlay managers, said Keith Bozarth, executive director of the California plan. The board approved an increase in the...

Pa. SERS Looks For Alternatives Consultant.
April 2, 2007... The $32 billion Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) has launched a search for an alternative investments consultant-a move which could potentially unseat the incumbent Cambridge Associates, whose contract is set to expire....

City of Waltham Issues Bond, Real Estate RFPs.
April 2, 2007... The $150 million Waltham Retirement Board has launched dual searches for managers to oversee global fixed-income and private real estate portfolios, according to the Massachusetts Public Pension Fund Forum's (MPPF) Web site. Joseph Juppe',...

Virginia Plan Launches Searches.
April 2, 2007... The board of the $81 million City of Charlottesville Retirement System has launched searches for a manager to oversee a $12 million mid-cap equity account and a $4 million emerging markets account. This follows closely behind an RFP the...

Lauderhill Firefighters' Hunt for Smid-Cap.
April 2, 2007... The board of the $35 million Lauderhill Firefighters' Pension Fund has issued an RFP for a smid-cap equity manager to oversee a $5 million account, said Greg McNeillie, the Florida plan's consultant with Dahab Associates. The purpose of...

New Hampshire Revamps Int'l Equity.
April 2, 2007... The $4.5 billion New Hampshire Retirement System made several changes to its non-U.S. equity program, according to the draft minutes from the investment committee's March 13 meeting. The minutes noted that the portfolio is currently short...

Sunrise 911 Seeks Mid-Cap Manager.
April 2, 2007... The $63 million City of Sunrise Firefighters' Pension Fund is searching for a mid-cap equity manager to oversee a $6 million mandate. Greg McNeillie, the plan's consultant with Dahab Associates, said that the Florida plan is searching...

Bayou Cops Get Closer to Hedge Funds.
April 2, 2007... The $440 million Louisiana State Police Retirement System is in the homestretch of selecting its first-ever hedge fund manager. According to the minutes of a Feb. 21 investment committee meeting, the fund has been evaluating the possibility...

Lakeland Selects New Equity Manager.
April 2, 2007... The $500 million City of Lakeland Employees' Retirement System has selected NorthPointe Capital to manage a $35 million small/smid-cap growth account for the Florida plan, according to the minutes from a March 20 special board meeting. The...

City of San Jose Hires Fidelity.
April 2, 2007... The roughly $1.8 billion San Jose Federated City Employees' Retirement System recently approved a new investment in real estate. According to the agenda for the plan's March 8 meeting, the board voted to invest $20 million in the Fidelity...

Chi Town Teachers' Hire Index Managers.
April 2, 2007... The $10.9 billion Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago has selected minority- and female-owned asset managers to oversee a total of $550 million in index funds, said Kevin Huber, executive director at the plan. ...

Garden State Approves Investments.
April 2, 2007... The $79.4 billion New Jersey Division of Investment (DOI) made commitments in private equity and hedge funds at a March 15 meeting, according to its Web site. The DOI approved two direct hedge fund investment of $75 million in Canyon Value...

Athol R.S. Seeks New Administrator.
April 2, 2007... The $14 million Athol Contributory Retirement System is looking for a new administrator to oversee the day-to-day operations of the plan, confirmed the incumbent administrator, Gene Ferrari. "We are the only retirement system in the state...

Odds & Ends.
April 2, 2007... *Private equity and buyout firm TA Associates has bought a minority interest in hedge fund firm K2 Advisors. K2 will use roughly $100 million of the proceeds to invest in new and existing K2 strategies. *Effective May 1, ForstmannLeff will...

Environmental Concerns Boost SRI Funds.
April 2, 2007... Environmental and human rights issues have sparked a renewed interest in socially responsible investing (SRI), and, as a result, assets in these funds will reach $2.5 trillion this year, up 10% from $2.3 trillion in 2005, according to Money...

New Jersey Reveals Shortfall.
April 9, 2007... In a response to a New York Times article, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has revealed that the state's public retirement system is drastically underfunded. From 1997 until he took office, the state had not been making its annual...

Iowa PERS Places Equity Manager on Watch.
April 9, 2007... As first reported on imweekly.com (4/3/07), the $22 billion Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) made an addition to its watch list at a March 30 meeting, said Karl Koch, interim CIO with the plan. Koch said that RCM Capital...

Barnstable County Seeks Large-Cap Managers.
April 9, 2007... The $450 million Barnstable County Retirement Association is seeking proposals from managers to oversee a large-cap core portfolio for the plan, according to the Massachusetts Public Pension Fund Forum's (MPPF) Web site. The board is...

a Vendre (For Sale): Pension funds raise stakes in European property market.
April 9, 2007... Nobody has hung a "For Sale" sign on the Palace of Versailles yet, but French patriots might be getting nervous. North American investors, including U.S. public pension funds, are snapping up European real estate, some historic properties in...

Ohio Schools Seeks Hedge Fund Consultant.
April 9, 2007... The $11 billion School Employees' Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) has launched a search for a hedge fund consultant. According to the RFP, the search comes as a result of a recently approved new asset allocation policy, in which hedge...

Arizona Treasury to Perform Review.
April 9, 2007... The $12 billion Arizona State Treasurer's Office (ASTO) is searching for a firm to conduct an evaluation performance of the state's investment pools and endowment fund. Mark Swensen, deputy treasurer of Arizona, could not be reached by...

Brockton Issues Transition RFP.
April 9, 2007... The $380 million Brockton Contributory Retirement System is in the market for transition management services, said Harold Hanna, executive director at the Massachusetts fund. "We are going to have a major reallocation of investments,"...

Danvers Launches Dual Searches.
April 9, 2007... The roughly $77 million Danvers Retirement System has issued RFPs for two new domestic equity managers. The plan is seeking a U.S. Russell 1000 Growth Index manager to oversee a $5.5 million account and a U.S. large-cap value equity manager...

Salem State Seeks Endowment Manager.
April 9, 2007... The board of the $14.5 million Salem State College Foundation is seeking a manager to oversee the investments of the foundation's portfolio. According to the RFP, the portfolio is divided into three sections: the $9.2 million general...

Wellesley Seeks Int'l Small-Cap Manager.
April 9, 2007... The board of the $133.4 million Wellesley Contributory Retirement System has issued an RFP for an international small-cap equity manager to oversee a $5 million portfolio. Benjamin Paradise, the plan's consultant with Meketa Investment...

Mass. Fund Launches Bond Search.
April 9, 2007... The North Attleborough Contributory Retirement System is searching for a fixed-income manager to oversee $5 to $10 million of the pension fund's assets. According to an RFP issued by the plan's consultant, Dahab Associates, the strategies...

New Mexico Council Hires for PE.
April 9, 2007... The $13 billion New Mexico State Investment Council recently approved three new private equity investments, according to minutes on the plan's Web site. The council approved a $30 million investment in Green Equity Investors V, a $4...

Indiana PERF Makes PE Commitments.
April 9, 2007... The $16.3 billion Indiana Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERF) has committed $108.5 million to four private equity funds, confirmed Jeff Hutson, spokesman for the plan. The board approved a commitment of $20 million to Technology...

Colorado Guns & Hoses Seeks New CIO.
April 9, 2007... The $3.2 billion Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado (FPPA) is looking for a new CIO to oversee the plan's investment functions. According to a posting on the FPPA Web site, the CIO's duties include providing analysis and...

San Diego County Takes On Amaranth.
April 9, 2007... The $7.7 billion San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association (SDCERA) has filed a complaint for securities fraud against Amaranth Advisors in an attempt to recoup the losses that the plan suffered following an investment in the firm's...

Odds & Ends.
April 9, 2007... *Brad Blalock has stepped down from his position as director of U.S. consulting with Mercer Investment Consulting to join Morgan Stanley Investment Management. In a newly created role, Blalock will serve as executive director of client service...

At Press Time: West Virginia Challenges Merger Ruling.
April 16, 2007... The $8 billion West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board has decided to challenge a state Supreme Court circuit court ruling blocking it from merging the $748 million State Teachers' Defined Contribution Plan into the $2.17 billion...

Gotham City Seeks Bond Managers.
April 16, 2007... The City of New York Office of the Comptroller has issued an RFP for U.S. and global convertible bonds investment advisory services for the $100 billion New York City Retirement Systems (NYCRS)-which includes the Employees' Retirement System,...

Alabama Fund Launches $100M Bond Search.
April 16, 2007... The $2.8 billion Alabama Trust Fund has issued an RFP for a core-plus fixed-income manager. Anthony Leigh, deputy treasurer of Alabama, confirmed that the fund was seeking bids for the account, but referred further questions to Anne...

San Bernardino Fires Small-Cap Manager.
April 16, 2007... As first reported on imweekly.com (4/10/07), the $5.7 billion San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association has parted ways with Harris Investment Management, said Don Pierce, an investment officer at the plan. Pierce said that...

General News: Baton Rouge Fund Eyes Mid-Cap.
April 16, 2007... The $1.5 billion Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System (LSERS) has issued an RFP for a mid-cap domestic equity index manager to oversee a $50 million mandate tracking the Russell Mid-Cap or S&P 400 indexes. "We need exposure to the...

General News: Imperial County Terminates Delta.
April 16, 2007... The Imperial County Employees' Retirement System's manager roster is one firm short following a recent termination, according to the plan's Web site. Karen Vogel, administrator at the plan, did not return calls seeking further details by...

General News: Pa. Plan Issues Small-Cap RFP.
April 16, 2007... The $1.5 billion Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (PMRS) is seeking a small-cap value equity manager to oversee an $80 million mandate for the plan. "At the March investment meeting, our board terminated our relationship with...

General News: Mass. Utility Hunts for PE Managers.
April 16, 2007... The $228 million Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Retirement System launched dual private equity searches last week. According to the RFP, the fund is looking for a fund-of-funds or secondary fund manager to invest up to $5 million...

General News: Santa Barbara Seeks Investment Consultant.
April 16, 2007... The $1.8 billion Santa Barbara County Employees' Retirement System has issued an RFP for a general investment consultant-a move which could potentially replace incumbent Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA). "With consultants, we normally do...

General News: Dairy State Issues Consultant RFP.
April 16, 2007... The $90 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) has issued an RFP for a pension fund consultant to assist the board with fiduciary reviews. Brandon Duck, internal audit director with SWIB, referred questions to Vicky Hearing,...

General News: Bayou Muni Selects Bond Finalists.
April 16, 2007... The $1.6 billion Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System (LAMPERS) will interview finalists tomorrow for a core-plus fixed-income mandate, according to its Web site. Stone Harbor Investment Partners, Western Asset...

General News: Vermont Funds To Invest Locally.
April 16, 2007... The Vermont Pension Investment Committee (VPIC) is gearing up to issue an RFP for investment opportunities that support economic and community development within the state. The VPIC oversees more than $3 billion for the state's teachers,...

General News: LA County Interviews Search Finalists.
April 16, 2007... The board of investments for the $36.7 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) heard recommendations regarding finalists in its searches for a non-discretionary private equity advisor and commodities investment...

Odds & Ends.
April 16, 2007... * Goldman Sachs has promoted Steve Strongin to the post of global head of investment research, where he will oversee all equity, fixed income, economics and strategic research for the firm. Strongin has served as chief operating officer and...

Investment Manager Profile: CalSTRS Reconsiders Tobacco Ban.
April 16, 2007... The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is reconsidering its decision to rid its portfolio of tobacco stocks, said Sherry Reser, spokeswoman for the $163.5 billion plan. Seven years after the board decided to dump all...

Investment Manager Profile: AXA Rosenberg's Prunet: Very Few Do 130/30 Our Way.
April 16, 2007... If you look at an adult fir, what you might see is a tree rising majestically 40 to 50 feet into the air from the forest floor. What you won't see is that there is also a taproot that reaches almost as far down underground to the water table....

We Couldn't Make This Up If We Tried!: I Don't Remember Where Your Money Went.
April 16, 2007... Charleston Southern University, the Securities and Exchange Commission and at least three S.C.-area residents are suing Al Parish, an economic professor at the university. The university claims that Parish lost $10 million that the school...

New CIO For Maine System.
April 23, 2007... The $10 billion Maine State Retirement System has hired Andrew Sawyer as its new CIO. Sawyer's hiring marks the plan's third CIO in three years. Michael Simmons, stepped down from the post in January. He had been hired to replace Rex...

W. Virginia Moves Ahead With Alts. Push.
April 23, 2007... The $9 billion West Virginia Investment Management Board could soon hire an alternative investments consulting firm, according to an RFI issued by the board. The move follows the passage of a bill that now allows it to invest up to 20% of...

Marin County Considers Small-Cap Increase.
April 23, 2007... The $1.2 billion Marin County Employees' Retirement Association (MCERA) was slated to discuss a possible increase in the size of its small-cap international equity allocation, according to the agenda from the board's April 20 meeting. The...

Alternatives In Search of Canadian Assets.
April 23, 2007... CTVglobemedia. Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment. North American Oil Sands Corporation. Samsonite. These are only a few of the private equity investments reaping rewards for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan that were listed in a recent...

Fort Lauderdale Hunts for Large-Cap Equity.
April 23, 2007... The $325 million Fort Lauderdale General Employees' Retirement System has issued RFPs for a large-cap value manager to oversee a $35 million deep value or contrarian mandate and a smid-cap value manager to oversee a $10 million account. ...

Mass. Fund Issues Equity Index RFP.
April 23, 2007... The $378 million City of Brockton Retirement System is searching for two managers to oversee enhanced S&P 500 index mandates of between $30 and $50 million each, said Harold Hanna, executive director at the Massachusetts plan. Hanna...

North Carolina Could Adjust Treasurer Role.
April 23, 2007... Investment responsibilities for North Carolina's $70 billion public pension fund could be taken out of the hands of State Treasurer Richard Moore and placed under the watch of the plan's 14-member board, if recently introduced legislation is...

Texas Teachers Change Asset Allocation.
April 23, 2007... The $109 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) recently approved changes to its asset allocation that would shift billions into alternative investments and out of stocks and bonds. Reportedly, the changes come shortly after the...

LAMPERS Selects Loomis Sayles.
April 23, 2007... The $1.6 billion Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System (LAMPERS) has hired Loomis Sayles & Co. to manage a core fixed-income portfolio for the plan, Kathy Bourque, executive director, told IMW last week. The firm was...

New Jersey Eyes More Alternatives.
April 23, 2007... The $79.4 billion New Jersey Division of Investment (DOI) recently discussed several potential investments in private equity, hedge funds and real estate. At an April 19 meeting, the DOI discussed placing assets with private equity funds...

CalPERS Increases Brazilian Real Estate.
April 23, 2007... The $232.2 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has agreed to work with real estate company Hines Interests on a joint venture to create two new funds that will invest $820 million in Brazil, confirmed Clark...

Odds & Ends.
April 23, 2007... *Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has appointed a task force to help solve the financial troubles of the state's retirement system. Results of the study are expected by Dec. 1. *Advantus Capital Management has named Jay Strohmaier senior VP...

Consultants Expect Increased Search Activity.
April 23, 2007... Institutional investors are going to be hitting the market for managers in increased numbers this year, according to Casey, Quirk & Associates 2007 Consultant Search Forecast report. "Consultants expecting to increase their search activity...

LA Water And Power to Study Assets.
April 30, 2007... The Los Angeles Water and Power Retirement Plan is gearing up to conduct a soup-to-nuts review of its asset mix, confirmed Sangeeta Bhatia, administrator at the approximately $6 billion fund. Bhatia said the asset liability study will be...

Philly To Move Ahead With Hedge Funds.
April 30, 2007... The $5 billion Philadelphia Board of Pension and Retirement is planning to increase its investments to hedge funds from 5% to 10% of the total portfolio, confirmed Brian Glanz, investment officer with the plan. Reportedly, the fund...

T. Rowe Price Changes Leads To Termination.
April 30, 2007... T. Rowe Price is gearing up to reassign several of its portfolio managers-a change that has already caused the $11.2 billion Public Employees' Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) to terminate the manager. "We are-beginning Oct. 1-making...

Big Apple Funds Seek Activist Investments.
April 30, 2007... As first reported on imweekly.com (4/25/07), the City of New York Office of the Comptroller has issued an RFQ for activist investments on behalf of the $44 billion Employees' Retirement System and the $36 billion Teachers' Retirement System....

Empire State Teachers Hire and Fire.
April 30, 2007... The New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) has made several changes to its manager roster, confirmed John Cardillo, spokesman for the $89 billion plan. Cardillo said that two of the plan's benchmark agnostic international...

Illinois TRS Adopts New Equity Targets.
April 30, 2007... The $39.7 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) will be seeking domestic and international equity managers as the result of new target allocations, confirmed Eva Goltermann, spokeswoman for the plan. In domestic equity, the...

Arizona Safety To Conduct Searches.
April 30, 2007... The $6.7 billion Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) is gearing up to conduct searches as a result of a recently approved, more diverse asset mix, said Jim Hacking, executive director at the plan. He explained that...

U. Va. To Decrease Emerging Markets.
April 30, 2007... The University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) could be lowering its exposure to emerging market investments, according to documents distributed at a recent University of Virginia Board of Visitors meeting. UVIMCO...

Falmouth Plan Issues Private Equity RFP.
April 30, 2007... The $75 million Town of Falmouth Retirement System is searching for a manager to oversee a private equity account of up to $1.5 million in either fund-of-funds, secondary fund-of-funds or direct funds, according to an RFP issued by the...

Ann Arbor Hits Mid-Cap Snag.
April 30, 2007... The $440 million City of Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System has hit a roadblock in its plans to invest in a Russell 2500 Mid-Cap Index account, according to the minutes from a board meeting last month. After terminating Oppenheimer...

CalSTRS Selects Consultant Finalists.
April 30, 2007... The $163.5 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has named finalists in the search for a firm to assist the plan in selecting alternative investments, according to the agenda for a May 3 investment committee meeting....

LASERS Interviews Bond Finalists.
April 30, 2007... The $7 billion Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) interviewed four finalists in its search for a fixed-income manager, according to the agenda from its meeting last Thursday. ING Asset Management, JPMorgan Asset...

Scottish Widows Boosts EM Team.
April 30, 2007... In a newly created position, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has hired Andrew Ness as an investment director for its global emerging market team, a spokeswoman for the firm confirmed last week. SWIP feels that Ness'...

SEIU Launches Attack on Private Equity: Union issues a 42-page report calling for massive changes to the industry.
April 30, 2007... No stranger to ruffling feathers in the private equity world, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) took its latest, and perhaps biggest shot at the industry last week, releasing a 42-page report, entitled "Beyond the Buyouts."...

Odds & Ends.
April 30, 2007... *James Hirschmann is stepping down from his role as president and chief operating officer of Legg Mason. Raymond Mason, chairman and CEO, will take on the presidential duties. Hirschmann will remain CEO of Western Asset Management Co., Legg...