Investment Management Weekly articles from December 2006

Investment Management Weekly archives from December 2006

Arizona Plan Eyes New Asset Mix.
December 4, 2006... According to published reports, the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System will undertake an asset allocation study that is expected to alter its investment targets. Reportedly, James Hacking, executive director at the $6.2...

U. of Minnesota Makes New Allocations.
December 4, 2006... The board of regents for the University of Minnesota is gearing up to fulfill commitments to new allocations in real assets and private capital, said Stuart Mason, CIO of the university's office of asset management. Mason added that the...

San Diego and Callan Reach Settlement.
December 4, 2006... The San Diego city council has reportedly approved a settlement in which Callan Associates, consultant of the $4.6 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) since 1982, will pay the city $4.5 million. The settlement...

California Teachers' Push for Positive Change.
December 4, 2006... A new corporate governance policy being considered by the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) could change the way it evaluates every investment going forward, said Brenna Neuharth, a CalSTRS spokeswoman. The draft...

Massachusetts PRIM Issues RFP.
December 4, 2006... The $44 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board is continuing its commitment to do business in its own backyard. Last week, PRIM announced that it plans to issue an RFP for firms to participate in its...

San Diego Fund Looks At Private Equity.
December 4, 2006... The $4.6 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) is considering making its first allocation to private equity, according to published reports. The SDCERS board, reportedly discussed the asset class at a Nov. 17...

San Antonio to Make Alts. Commitments?
December 4, 2006... The $1.7 billion San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund recently discussed a possible private equity commitment of $30 million to Aldus Equity Partners, according to the agenda for the fund's Nov. 28 board meeting. The results of the...

Middlesex Shifts Asset Responsibilities.
December 4, 2006... The board of the $700 million Middlesex Retirement System has voted to shift the management of its assets to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM), which oversees $44 billion for the state's retirement systems....

San Mateo Sticks With BGI.
December 4, 2006... The $1.7 billion San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association (SamCERA) decided to renew its investment management agreement with Barclays Global Investors (BGI) at a Nov. 28 board meeting, said David Bailey, CIO at the plan. BGI...

LACERS Eyes Real Estate Changes.
December 4, 2006... The $10.5 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) is expected to discuss several real estate changes at an investment committee meeting today. At the top of the committee's list is an interview with the two finalists...

Michigan Regents Hires Managers.
December 4, 2006... The board of regents who oversee the University of Michigan's $5.5 billion in assets have approved up to $119 million in follow-on alternative investments, according to a document on the board's Web site. The board made commitments of $20...

Evergreen Continues Institutional Push.
December 4, 2006... Less than a decade ago, Evergreen Investments was not considered to be a shop that catered primarily to institutional investors and was more known for its retail-based business. Fast forward to 2006, and you will find that the firm has more...

NYLIM Launches New Strategy.
December 4, 2006... New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) has announced that it is the latest asset manager to enter into the 130/30 game. NYLIM plans to introduce its version of the strategy to institutional investors before year-end, said Steve Landau,...

Babson Capital's Jill Fields Seeks Quality in High Yield.
December 4, 2006... For high yield portfolio manager Jill Fields, a managing director at Babson Capital Management, quality definitely outweighs quantity. What Babson Capital looks for when investing in high yield is an appropriate amount of total leverage as...

Odds & Ends.
December 4, 2006... *The Dreyfus Corporation has appointed Phil Maisano as CIO and Dreyfus vice chairman. Maisano is also the head of alternative investments for Mellon Asset Management and chairman of EACM Advisors. *E. Clifton Hoover has been hired by Dreman...

Changes in Gotham City?
December 11, 2006... Joe Haslip has been named deputy comptroller of pensions for the City of New York, according to an industry source familiar with the situation. Haslip replaces Horatio Sparkes who resigned from the position in September for a job in the...

Fred Alger on Hot Seat at LA Utility.
December 11, 2006... As first reported on imweekly.com, the Los Angeles Water and Power Retirement Plan may have placed Fred Alger Management on watch, according to the $6 billion plan's Web site. The agenda for a Dec. 6 meeting states that the manager was...

NM PERA Makes International Equity Changes.
December 11, 2006... The board of the $11.5 billion New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association (NM PERA) recently approved numerous changes to its international equity portfolio, said Robert Gish, the plan's director of investments. "We've been...

Investment Executives in High Demand: Compensation at Asset Management Firms Expected to Rise.
December 11, 2006... Complying with new regulations, preparations to capture the assets of retiring Baby Boomers and the offering of alternative investments is prompting investment firms to seek out and retain top talent-with increased compensation as a key...

CalPERS Seeks More for Manager Program.
December 11, 2006... The $221.3 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has issued an RFP to refresh the pool of managers for the plan's Manager Development Program II (MDP II). The program focuses on emerging investment management...

Chicopee R.B. Hunts for Bond Manager.
December 11, 2006... The $112 million Chicopee Retirement Board is considering a $33 million fixed-income investment. According to the RFP, the plan would allocate the assets to a core-plus portfolio. Proposals from investment managers for commingled and...

LACERA Looks for Commodity Manager.
December 11, 2006... The $36.7 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) has issued an RFP for a collateral commodity futures mandate to be benchmarked against the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index. The LACERA board began considering...

IPERS Moves Closer to Portable Alpha.
December 11, 2006... The $20 billion Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) discussed the possible issuance of an RFP and the potential amounts of commitments to private equity and real estate for the coming year at its Dec. 7 meeting. Kathy Comito,...

Mass. PRIM To Trim REIT Allocation.
December 11, 2006... The board of the $45.5 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) Board has reportedly decided to lower the amount the fund has invested in real estate investment trusts (REITs). According to published reports, PRIM...

Indiana PERF Hires Private Equity Firms.
December 11, 2006... The $15.6 billion Indiana Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERF) recently added four new private equity investments to its portfolio. The Indianapolis-based plan committed $30 million to Oaktree Capital Management's Asia Principal...

Returns Spark More PE for Pa. SERS.
December 11, 2006... Spurred by the strong performance of its real estate and private equity portfolios this year, the Pennsylvania Public Employees' Retirement System (PA SERS) authorized more than $250 million worth of new commitments to the asset classes last...

Orange County Eyes More Private Equity.
December 11, 2006... The private markets committee of the $6.5 billion Orange County Employees' Retirement System (OCERS) was scheduled to select a private equity fund-of-funds manager to oversee a $50 million mandate. According to the agenda for the California...

Pa. School ERS Considers Managers.
December 11, 2006... The finance committee of the $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) considered a few investments at its Dec. 7 meeting, according to the agenda. The committee discussed a proposed private equity...

Mass. Plan Seeks New Board Member.
December 11, 2006... The $200 million Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Retirement System (MWRA) is expanding and is seeking letters of interest from potential candidates to fill the role of the board's fifth member, said Brian Leahy, the plan's executive...

Barrett Capital Uses Endowment Style' of Investing.
December 11, 2006... Hedge funds may be all the rage these days, but they are not for most individual investors. Not only are they extremely risky investment vehicles, but also the minimum investment requirements can be daunting even for high-net-worth investors....

Odds & Ends.
December 11, 2006... *Northern Trust has announced the appointment of Douglas McEldowney to the large-cap value equity team of Northern Trust Global Investments, where he will be responsible for fundamental equity research and portfolio management. Prior to joining...

Kimberly-Clark Looks at LDI.
December 18, 2006... According to sources familiar with the Texas-based company, Kimberly-Clark Corp. is considering implementing a liability-driven investing (LDI) strategy, as well an increase to the alternative investment portfolio for its $4 billion pension...

San Diego City Places Three on Watch.
December 18, 2006... The board of the $4.6 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) recently discussed a potential new investment, an addition to its manager roster and updates to the manager watch list, according to the fund's Web site. At...

Texas Perm. Fund to Add Emerging Markets?
December 18, 2006... The $21 billion Texas Permanent School Fund could soon dabble in emerging markets equity investments following a decision made at its most recent board meeting. According to the Summary of Actions posted on the plan's Web site, the board...

BoNY/Mellon Merger Creates New Model.
December 18, 2006... The $16.5 billion deal between Bank of New York and Mellon Financial that was announced on Dec. 4 would create one of the world's largest and strongest custodians of financial assets and bolster the merged entity into the top ten asset...

San Fran Searches for Bond Manager.
December 18, 2006... The board of the $15.2 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) is gearing up to launch a search for a core-plus bond manager. David Kushner, deputy director of investments with the plan, said the board...

Texas ERS to Add New Allocations.
December 18, 2006... The $23.4 billion Employees' Retirement System of Texas (ERS) decided to make initial forays in two asset classes at a Dec. 13 board meeting. Mary Jane Wardlow, spokeswoman for the plan, said that the board voted to start preparing for...

CalPERS Looks for New Consultants.
December 18, 2006... The nearly $230 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has issued an RFP to refresh its spring-fed pool of general investment consultants. According to the RFP, the firms may be asked to provide assistance with...

Stanislaus Makes Small-Cap Change.
December 18, 2006... The $1.3 billion Stanislaus County Employees' Retirement Association (StanCERA) has made a change to its small-cap equity manager roster, said Tom Watson, administrator at the fund. Watson said that Charlotte Capital informed the plan in...

N.H. Makes Changes To Manager Roster.
December 18, 2006... The investment committee of the $4.5 billion New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) continued to make changes to its domestic equity portfolio at a Nov. 14 meeting, according to minutes posted on the plan's Web site. According to the...

Texas TRS Considers Investments.
December 18, 2006... The board of the $100 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) recently considered several additions to its list of pre-approved funds. According to the agenda from a Dec. 14-15 meeting, the board considered a real estate...

LA 911 Looks at Real Estate Investments.
December 18, 2006... The board of the $13.5 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System (LAFPP) was scheduled to discuss three new real estate investments at its meeting last week. Up for consideration is a $30 million investment in Colony Investors...

Arkansas Teachers Narrow Down Search.
December 18, 2006... The Arkansas Teachers Retirement System may be one step closer to finding a successor for executive director David Malone. At its Dec. 6 board meeting, the plan reportedly agreed to offer the position to Paul Doane, currently a senior VP...

Church Capital Wins Big With Out of Favor' Investments.
December 18, 2006... Betting on losers is not a likely strategy for winning big returns, but betting on companies other people might think of as losers, if you know better, could be. That might be described as the thinking behind the investment strategy of...

Odds & Ends.
December 18, 2006... *Lehman Brothers has hired Alan Dorsey as managing director and co-head of portfolio strategy, where he will focus on multiple asset classes and alternative investments. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Dorsey was the head of alternative...