Investment Management Weekly articles from August 2006

Investment Management Weekly archives from August 2006

San Diego Trustees Set For Trial.
August 7, 2006... A state superior court judge has decided that six former San Diego City Employees' Retirement System trustees will go to trial for conflict-of-interest charges. The trustees-Ron Saatoff, Cathy Lexin, John Torres, Terry Webster, Mary Vattimo and...

LA Water Watches The Boston Co?
August 7, 2006... The $6 billion Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Retirement Plan was expected to discuss placing emerging markets manager The Boston Company on watch at its Aug. 2 board meeting. The firm reportedly oversees a $50 million portfolio....

Illinois Teachers' Hires and Fires.
August 7, 2006... As first reported on imweekly.com (8/2/06), the board of the $36.8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) approved numerous actions at its Aug. 2 meeting, including the termination of two domestic equity managers and...

Alabama Fund Issues International Equity RFP.
August 7, 2006... The office of Alabama State Treasurer Kay Ivey has issued an RFP for a core international equity manager to join the roster for the $2.7 billion Alabama Trust Fund. According to the RFP, the fund's board of trustees wants a firm that has...

San Diego City Plots More Real Estate.
August 7, 2006... The investment committee for the San Diego City Employees' Retirement System plans to invest in new real estate strategies, said Dawne Clark, assistant investment officer for the fund. "Right now we have core, separate accounts and REITs,"...

ITT Industries To Increase Alternatives.
August 7, 2006... The $4.4 billion ITT Industries is slated to boost its allocation to alternative investments from 32% to 40%, confirmed Don Foley, VP and treasurer at the White Plains, N.Y. fund. Foley said that ITT has not identified potential...

Milwaukee ERS Looks for Analyst.
August 7, 2006... The $4.2 billion City of Milwaukee Employees' Retirement System (CMERS) is looking for an analyst to assist with the investment operations of the plan. "One of the two pension investment analysts, Tom Rick, was promoted to CIO in April,...

Milwaukee Chairman Resigns.
August 7, 2006... The board of the $1.6 billion Milwaukee County Employees' Retirement System has lost its chairman, as Walter Lanier has resigned after three years in the role. Lanier was appointed by county executive Scott Walker in 2003 following a...

Ohio SERS Makes Selections.
August 7, 2006... The board of the $10 billion School Employees' Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) has made final selections in its searches for managers to oversee enhanced equity index and emerging markets accounts, said Julie Graham-Price, spokeswoman for the...

Conn. Fund Terminates Managers.
August 7, 2006... The $230 million Meriden Municipal Employee Pension Board made several changes to its investment roster for the city employee fund and the police and fire fund, confirmed Robert Curry, finance director, at the Connecticut plan. At a July...

San Joaquin Narrows Search to Three.
August 7, 2006... The $1.9 billion San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association (SJCERA) has narrowed down its search for an absolute return fixed-income manager to three finalists, said Robert Palmer, administrator of the fund. The search began in...

Gotham Teachers Approves Investments.
August 7, 2006... At its July 25 meeting, the board of the $89 billion New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) approved investments in real estate and private equity. For real estate, the board approved investments of up to $50 million in the...

Illinois Muni Narrows Down Equity Search.
August 7, 2006... The $19 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) has selected finalists in its search for small-cap growth managers, according to the agenda from the plan's July 27 investment committee meeting. The committee invited firms...

LA 911 To Hire For Private Equity.
August 7, 2006... Aug. 3 meeting, the board of the $13.5 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System heard recommendations from its various investment consultants which could possibly lead to new investments and changes to the system's real estate strategy,...

RE Search Winding Down at Fresno County.
August 7, 2006... The $2.4 billion Fresno County Retirement System is in the final stages of its search for a core private real estate manager. According to the fund's Web site, Fresno County was expected to interview American Realty Advisors, INVESCO Real...

Providence Mayor Eyes R.S. Changes.
August 7, 2006... David Cicilline, mayor of Providence, R.I., has submitted a proposal to the city council that would make extreme changes to the Providence Employees' Retirement System, according to local reports and the mayor's Web site. The mayor's...

Prescott Group's Stupin: Real Estate Great for Diversification.
August 7, 2006... Diversification is the big word in investing these days. And Susan Stupin, co-founder and managing director of New York-based Prescott Group LLC, said that you can't get better diversification than property. "Real estate as an asset...

Odds & Ends.
August 7, 2006... *The $70 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has hired Matthew Sherman as a senior equities trader, where he will help to oversee the plan's $27 billion in equities under management. Prior to joining OPERS, Sherman was the...

N.H. Adopts New Ethics Policy.
August 14, 2006... The New Hanpshire Retirement System is taking the first steps towards eliminating potential conflicts of interests and ethics violations. The changes stem from the debacle surrounding former board chairman Edward Theobald who was found to...

Canadian Plan Eyes More Alternatives.
August 14, 2006... The $4.9 billion Canada Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology (CAAT) could increase its allocation to alternative investments in the near future, according to the fund's Web site. Julie Cays, director of investments and CIO for the...

Nebraska Public ERS Director Resigns.
August 14, 2006... Anna Sullivan, director of the $7.2 billion Nebraska Public Employees' Retirement Systems, which administers the State Employees' Retirement System, the County Employees' Retirement System, the Nebraska School Employees' Retirement System, the...

San Diego Report: Crimes Led to Crisis: Kroll Blames Ex-Officials in Mismanagement.
August 14, 2006... Numerous violations of federal securities law and other state and federal laws are at the root of San Diego's pension and bond disclosure crisis, according to a city-commissioned report that was released last Tuesday. The 266-page report...

Calif. Fund Changes Real Estate Strategy.
August 14, 2006... The $4.8 billion San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association (SBCERA) has approved a recommendation to revise its real estate strategic plan to 45% core and 55% non-core, said Timothy Barrett, SBCERA's executive director. "The...

Arizona Regents Issues Consultant RFP.
August 14, 2006... The $2.8 billion Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR)-the body that oversees Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and The University of Arizona-has issued an RFP for an investment consultant for the board's optional retirement plan....

Santa Barbara Preps Consultant Search.
August 14, 2006... At its Aug. 9 meeting, the board of the $1.7 billion Santa Barbara County Employees' Retirement System (SBCERS) discussed an upcoming search that could potentially replace incumbent consultant Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA), said the...

Maryland Director Heads to NYSTRS.
August 14, 2006... Thomas Lee, executive director of the Maryland State Retirement & Pension Systems has announced his resignation, effective at the end of the month. He leaves the system after three years as its head, during which time he helped the fund...

Ohio Workers' Comp Hunts for CFO.
August 14, 2006... The $18 billion Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) is taking steps to fill the vacant CFO position at the fund, said Nancy Smeltzer, spokeswoman at the fund. "This will be filling the position left vacant by Terrence Gasper," she...

Former Illinois Board Member to Help Feds.
August 14, 2006... Stuart Levine, a former trustee for the $36.8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) and kick-back scandal alum (See IMW, 1/16/06 and 9/26/05), is assisting in a federal investigation of Illinois state government,...

Pa. SERS Approves Investments.
August 14, 2006... The $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) approved numerous investments at its Aug. 4 meeting. The fund will invest up to $100 million in Avenue Real Estate Fund, up to $125 million in Broadway...

Providence Mayor Eyes R.S. Changes.
August 14, 2006... David Cicilline, mayor of Providence, R.I., has submitted a proposal to the city council that would make extreme changes to the Providence Employees' Retirement System, according to local reports and the mayor's Web site. The mayor's...

LACERS Approves Alt. Investments.
August 14, 2006... The board of the $10.5 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) approved three new alternative investments at its Aug. 8 meeting, said Wayne Ige, investment and cash management officer with the plan. Ige explained...

CalPERS to Add to Manager Roster.
August 14, 2006... At an Aug. 14 investment committee meeting, the $205.8 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), was expected to close out three year-long RFPs and award new contracts for international REIT managers, U.S. equity growth...

City of Austin Aims to Fix Pension Problems.
August 14, 2006... The city of Austin is giving its retirement system a much needed injection of extra funds in the hope that it can lessen the strain on the underfunded system. According to local reports, the City Council recently approved a budget that...

Austin Investment Management's Rappa: "We're Good at the Sectors We're In".
August 14, 2006... Austin Investment Management admits that other investment management shops are tough competition. But, the firm feels that it can provide value to its clients. "We think there are a lot of good people managing money out there," said David...

Odds & Ends.
August 14, 2006... *Eaton Vance Corp. has announced that it will now be offering an emerging markets equity capability to institutional clients through its subsidiary, Parametric Portfolio Associates. The strategy uses a structured, disciplined investment...

Money Managers Announce Merger.
August 21, 2006... Todd Investment Advisors and Fort Washington Investment Advisors have announced plans to merge the Fort Washington large-cap value strategy into Todd Investment's relative value equity strategy. According to officials with the firms, the two...

Fresno County Watches Int'l Equity Manager: Fund Preps Replacement Search.
August 21, 2006... The board of the Fresno County Employees' Retirement System voted to place Franklin Temple- ton on watch at its Aug. 2 meeting. According to minutes posted on the California fund's Web site, Fresno's consultant Wurts & Associates...

Alaska Permanent Fund Eyes Global Equity.
August 21, 2006... The $31.7 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) will be educated on global equity during its Aug. 23-24 board meeting, said Mike Burns, executive director at the fund. Burns said that the presentations are just to educate the...

Bank of Ireland Gets Second Wind.
August 21, 2006... Bank of Ireland wants its beleaguered asset management division, Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), to stop hunkering down in its home country, and it is taking aggressive steps to get the ailing division back on the global frontlines,...

Oklahoma 911 Eyes Buyouts, Mezzanines.
August 21, 2006... The $1.3 billion Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System (OPPRS) could make changes to its private equity structure-if it approves the recommendations of its consultant. According to the plan's Web site, Asset Consulting Group was...

OPERS Plots Currency Search.
August 21, 2006... The $72 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) may be gearing up to launch a search for active currency investment managers, according to the agenda from the plan's August 15 board meeting. Further details could not be...

Louisiana Seeks Investment Consultant.
August 21, 2006... The State of Louisiana Department of the Treasury has issued an RFP for an investment consultant to help oversee three of the states trust funds-the $1.2 billion Millennium Trust Fund, $1.03 billion Louisiana Educational Quality Trust Fund and...

NYC Plan Seeks Investment Advisor.
August 21, 2006... The $2 billion New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) has issued an RFP for a consultant to help the board oversee the investment matters of the system. The fund was formed to provide benefits to employees of the city's...

Pennsylvania Fund Hunts for Consultant.
August 21, 2006... The approximately $626 million Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has issued an RFP for an investment consultant. According to Nelson's MarketPlace Web.com, SEPTA's assets are divided as follows: 44% in domestic...

LA County Hires New CEO.
August 21, 2006... The $34 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) has selected Gregg Rademacher to replace Marsha Richter as CEO of the plan. Richter announced her plans to retire last year. She served as LACERA's CEO for 12...

Los Angeles Utility Hires for Private Equity.
August 21, 2006... The $6 billion Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Retirement Plan was expected to approve a $30 million private equity commitment at its August 16 board meeting. According to the fund's Web site, the plan was slated to hire...

Hawaii ERS Says Aloha to Bishop Street.
August 21, 2006... The $9.9 billion State of Hawaii Employees' Retirement System (HERS) has terminated one of its investment managers. According to the plan's CIO, Kimo Blaisdell, the board accepted the resignation of Bishop Street Equity from a $112.5...

Plans Sponsors Have Rocky Second Quarter.
August 21, 2006... Median pension funds posted negative returns during the second quarter, according to data compiled by the Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS). TUCS is a cooperative effort of Wilshire Associates' investment technology unit, Wilshire...

The Reserve Offers Clients Rate-Friendly Investments.
August 21, 2006... Are interest rates going up, down or being held steady? Is the economy headed up or for a recession? And what about the stock market? Is it going to keep treading water, or take a plunge? Zak Green, director of institutional sales at The...

Odds & Ends.
August 21, 2006... *The Social Investor Forum has appointed Lisa Woll as its first ever CEO. She assumes the position at the forum on Sept. 5. Prior to joining the Social Investor Forum, Woll served as executive director of the International Women's Media...

Editorial Break.(Editorial)
August 21, 2006... Due to an editorial break, Investment Management Weekly will not publish on Aug. 28 and Sept. 4. We will resume publishing on Sept. 11.