Investment Management Weekly articles from December 2005

Investment Management Weekly archives from December 2005

Eaton Aims to Build Business.
December 5, 2005... Boston-based Voyageur Asset Management has been acquired by investment management firm Eaton Vance Corp., also based in Boston. The deal adds $442 million in new assets to Eaton Vance. According to published reports, Eaton Vance acquired...

CalSTRS May Issue Core Plus RFP.
December 5, 2005... The board of the $133.8 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) could give the green light for a new investment plan that would require the issuance of an RFP for managers to oversee up to $6 billion in core plus...

San Bernardino Plots Dual Searches.
December 5, 2005... Following on the heels of its international small-cap and beta overlay manager searches, the $5 billion San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association will issue RFPs in mid-December for a currency overlay manager and a fund-of-funds...

Much Ado in Ohio: Ohio STRS Adopts New Asset Allocation.
December 5, 2005... The board of the $47.3 billion State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) voted to accept its new asset allocation during a board meeting last month. The changes to the plan's allocation, which include increases to the alternatives,...

Ohio Five-O Inspects Value Manager.
December 5, 2005... The $700 million Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System has placed De Prince, Race & Zollo (DRZ)-its large-cap value manager-on watch for performance issues on a roughly $60 million account. Executive Director Richard Curtis, said that the...

OPERS Searches for Real Estate Consultant.
December 5, 2005... The $54 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has issued an RFP for private real estate advisory services, to help them achieve their target allocation in the private real estate asset class-which is 8%-by the end of 2008....

Ohio SERS on Prowl for Consultant.
December 5, 2005... The School Employees' Retirement System of Ohio has issued an RFP for an investment consultant, a move that could potentially replace incumbent Russell Investment Group. Robert Cowman, director of investments for the $9.3 billion plan,...

Indiana Teachers Starts Large-Cap RFI.
December 5, 2005... The $7.5 billion Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund has initiated a search for a manager to replace Pacific Financial Research (PFR) on a $60 million large-cap value portfolio. Robert Newland, the plan's CIO, said that PFR's...

DeLay-Linked Trustee Asked to Step Down.
December 5, 2005... In the wake of the Tom DeLay conspiracy case, Bill Ceverha, a trustee on the six-member board of the roughly $20 billion Employees' Retirement System of Texas was asked to resign from his position on the board. Ceverha was also the former...

SEI Creates New Strategy for Union Fund.
December 5, 2005... The $108.9 million Teamsters Local Union 463-which represents over 3,000 members in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware mostly in the baking and dairy industry-has chosen SEI Investments as their sole provider of asset management services....

NASRA Survey: Pension Funding Ratios Continue Decline.
December 5, 2005... Almost one-third of all public pension funds are underfunded, according to a recent report released by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. In its survey of 103 public retirement systems representing 5.8 million...

Fidelity's Lawton: DB Plans Showing Signs of Improvement.
December 5, 2005... Fidelity Management Trust Company has released new research indicating that the health of defined benefit plans has steadily improved over the course of the last three years. Drew Lawton, president and CEO at the investment management firm...

Odds & Ends.
December 5, 2005... *The BKF Capital Group has hired Michael Rosen as a portfolio manager, focusing on quantitative investment strategies. He will develop large-cap core and dividend growth strategies. These will be BKF's first quantitative product offerings....

Illinois SURS Picks Up Slack.
December 12, 2005... The Illinois State Universities Retirement System (SURS) has officially named Dan Slack to head the fund. Slack began serving as Illinois SURS' interim executive director following the departure of James Hacking. Frustrated about the...

Ohio SERS Hunts for Enhanced Index Managers.
December 12, 2005... As first reported on IMW's Web site, www.imweekly.com, the $9.3 billion School Employees' Retirement System of Ohio has initiated an RFI for two managers to each handle approximately $250 million in an enhanced equity strategy. Calls to...

Milwaukee ERS Poised for Changes.
December 12, 2005... The $4.4 billion City of Milwaukee Employees' Retirement System is ending the year with a new asset allocation and executive director, said Anne Bahr, the fund's current executive director. Bahr explained that the plan would expand its...

Illinois Teachers' Sets Off Consultant Search.
December 12, 2005... The $34 billion Illinois Teachers' Retirement System has issued an RFP for an investment consultant. Specifics regarding the impetus for the search, which could potentially replace incumbent Callan Associates, could not be determined, as...

Somerville Hunts for Bond Manager.
December 12, 2005... The $152 million Somerville Retirement Board has initiated a search for a fixed-income manager. Tony Ferrelli, the board's accountant, confirmed that the fund was searching for a fixed-income manager. He declined to discuss reasons for the...

TRS Mulls Addition To Absolute Pool.
December 12, 2005... The board of the $87.9 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas is considering adding three more funds to its absolute return portfolio's approved list of authorized funds. Howard Goldman, TRS spokesman, explained that the retirement...

Gloucester Considers GAA Manager.
December 12, 2005... The $58 million City of Gloucester Contributory Retirement System could possibly add a global asset allocation manager to its lineup in the near future. According to a source familiar with the situation, the board decided to investigate...

San Diego City Files Malpractice Lawsuit.
December 12, 2005... The City of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against two law firms and two accounting firms that worked on bond offerings for the $3.13 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS). Law firms, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and...

Diamonds: Could They Be An Investor's Best Friend?
December 12, 2005... Investors on the never-ending quest to diversify their portfolios and achieve reasonable returns have sought comfort in asset classes a bit left of the mainstream. Investments in non-traditional vehicles, such as hedge funds, private...

FIS to Expand Equity Manager Stable.
December 12, 2005... The Philadelphia-based FIS Group is looking to add "outstanding" long-only domestic equity firms to its manager line-up, said Edward Swan, firm president. "We periodically look to make the investment world know that we are available as a...

Northern Trust Reacts to Sudan Divestments.
December 12, 2005... Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) has created seven new index funds to help Illinois public pension funds adhere to Sudan divestment mandates. Due to recently-enacted laws, public funds can not invest in companies that have business...

Evergreen Builds Consultant Relations Group.
December 12, 2005... Evergreen Institutional, seeking to expand its client base and its nearly $146 billion in assets under management, has made several changes to its consulting relations team, said Dan Flaherty, a spokesman for the firm. The changes,...

Guidestone Capital Offers Religious-Based Investing.
December 12, 2005... What would Jesus invest in? Theologians may debate whether the Man of Peace would steer clear of weapons manufacturers, or whether to invest in non-unionized companies, but at least one fund manager thinks it knows some kinds of companies...

Odds & Ends.
December 12, 2005... *A special panel appointed by acting New Jersey governor Richard Codey, called the Benefits Review Task Force reported that the state should immediately put $12 billion into its pension system to make it actuarially sound. The panel also...

SWIB May Fund More VC.
December 19, 2005... The $78 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) may allocate up to $50 million to two new state-based venture capital funds pending approval. According to published reports, both the Mason Wells Biomedical Fund II and Venture...

CalSTRS Preps For Asset/Liability Study.
December 19, 2005... The California State Teachers' Retirement System has launched an asset allocation study that could result in a new investment policy for the $133 billion system by July. Its goal is to diversify the plan's investments and get on track to...

Tulare County Studies Core Real Estate.
December 19, 2005... The Tulare County Employees' Retirement Association is being educated on core real estate and could potentially invest in the asset class if it is deemed feasible, said David Kehler, administrator for the $880 million California plan. ...

Ohio SERS Sparks Another RFI: Plan to Search For Non-U.S. Emerging Growth Manager.
December 19, 2005... As first reported on IMW's Web site, www.imweekly.com, the $9.3 billion School Employees Retirement System of Ohio has issued yet another RFI in the span of three weeks. The plan is requesting information for managers to oversee a roughly...

Bay State Plans to Replace Manager.
December 19, 2005... Two Massachusetts-based retirement plans have initiated searches that could potentially replace Delaware Investments as their large-cap value manager. "One of our managers made a number of changes to its team and investment strategy," said...

Fall River Looks to Add High Yield.
December 19, 2005... The $216 million Fall River Retirement System has launched a search for a high yield bond manager to oversee a $10 million mandate. Christine Tetreault, executive director at the plan, said that Fall River currently does not invest in the...

Kentucky Seeks Timberland Managers.
December 19, 2005... The $13 billion Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System (KTRS) has issued an RFI for timberland investment managers. Details of the search, including the size of the mandate, could not be determined, as calls to the plan were directed to...

WSIB to Freshen Consultant Pool.
December 19, 2005... The $65 billion Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), which manages investments for 14 public retirement funds and 19 other public funds, is gearing up to issue a request for qualifications and quotations for investment consulting services....

Massachusetts Plan Picks Finalists.
December 19, 2005... The $140 million City of Waltham Contributory Retirement Plan has selected four finalists in its search for a manager to oversee an $8 million high yield fixed-income account. Joe Juppe, the plan's executive director, said the board had...

La. Teachers' Hire Five For Smid-Cap.
December 19, 2005... The $12.7 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (LTRS) has hired five managers to oversee smid-cap core mandates. Each of the five firms -Chicago Equity Partners, Rothschild Asset Management, Smith Asset Management Group, Westwood...

Experts: Venture Capital To Be Bigger and Better in 06.
December 19, 2005... The plan for venture capitalists in 2006? To lose 20 pounds, but not to lose their shirts. Next year will be a banner one for biotech investments, a market characterized by conservatism and discipline. "The venture capital industry has...

BNY Adds to Transition Team.
December 19, 2005... The Bank of New York (BNY) has made several additions to its global transition management team. Andrew Sprung, a spokesman for the firm said that the changes are a result of BNY acquiring the New York-based commission recapture firm Lynch,...

Endowment Fund Losses Key Players.
December 19, 2005... The Stanford Management Company (SMC) will start off the New Year with a leaner staff following the departure of Mike McCaffery,the firm's president and CEO. According to published reports, McCaffery has announced that he will be forming...

To Gift or Not to Gift: Industry Players Discuss Policies on Accepting Holiday Cheer.
December 19, 2005... It is often said that it is better to give than to receive during the holidays, but that adage does not seem to apply in the investment world. Gift giving amongst plan sponsors, investment managers and consultants is tricky business. If done at...

Who's Been Naughty & Nice.
December 19, 2005... IMW has compiled a list of the naughty and the nice of the industry. While this list represents only a mere fraction of all the bad and good behavior in the industry this year, these folks put in the extra effort to appear on IMW's list. ...

Holiday Wishes.
December 19, 2005... First and foremost, I would like to send best wishes and holiday greetings to our troops in Iraq and around the world who are protecting our freedoms. God bless America. And I would like to extend holiday greetings to all involved in our...

Odds & Ends.
December 19, 2005... *The California Public Employees' Retirement System broke the $200 billion mark this week. CalPERS, which is the largest U.S. pension fund, has added $44 billion since 2001, the size of a respectable pension fund itself. It took CalPERS 64...

Announcement.
December 19, 2005... Investment Management Weekly will be on editorial hiatus from Dec. 26 to Jan. 2. The next issue will be published on Jan. 9. The staff of IMW wishes all in the investment community a happy and safe holiday and a prosperous 2006!