Investment Management Weekly articles from February 2006

Investment Management Weekly archives from February 2006

Audit Uncovers Conflicts at MOSERS.
February 6, 2006... A review conducted by the State Auditor of the Missouri of the Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS) has raised concerns about the health of the fund and possible conflicts of interest. The audit noted that the fund was 97% funded in 2001,...

Okla. Teachers Make Plans for Large-Cap Value.
February 6, 2006... The roughly $8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma may issue an RFP for a large-cap value manager in the coming months, said Tom Beavers, the plan's executive secretary. The move follows on the heels of the plan's ongoing...

N.J. Proposes Emerging Markets Increase: Could Lead to Search for External Managers.
February 6, 2006... The $79.4 billion New Jersey Division of Investment (NJDI), earlier this month, proposed rules to expand its emerging markets universe from five countries to a global format-a move that increases the portfolio and could potentially lead to...

San Joaquin May Add Portable Alpha.
February 6, 2006... The San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association (SJCERA) may possibly invest in a pure alpha strategy in the near future, said Robert Palmer, administrator of the $1.6 billion California fund. Palmer explained that the plan may...

Tennessee Fund Braces for Change.
February 6, 2006... The $1.7 billion Nashville & Davidson County Metropolitan Employee Benefit Fund has been placed in the hot seat by the Teamsters Union. The Teamsters announced on Jan. 26, via a published statement, that it filed a lawsuit on behalf of...

Vermont Plans Seek Consultant.
February 6, 2006... The $2.81 billion Vermont Pension Investment Committee (VPIC)-which oversees the Vermont State Employees' Retirement System, the Vermont State Teachers' Retirement System, and the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System-has issued an RFP...

Colo. Fire & Police Eye Real Estate Consultant.
February 6, 2006... The $2.9 billion Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado (FPPA) has issued an RFP for a real estate consultant-a move that could potentially replace New England Pension Consultants the plan's incumbent real estate consultant. "Our...

ING Pro Resigns, Bolts to Hartford.
February 6, 2006... Hugh Whelan, senior portfolio manager with ING Investment Management has left the firm, to join Hartford Investment Management Company as its new VP of quantitative strategies. Whelan, who had been with ING for 16 years, left the firm in...

San Francisco Hunts For Alts Specialists.
February 6, 2006... The $14 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) is looking to hire two alternative investment analysts for the fund, said David Kushner, deputy director of investments. Kushner said the search is being...

Montana PERA Calls For Search Do Over.
February 6, 2006... Following last year's debacle that ended with the rescinding of an offer of employment, the $4 billion Montana Public Employees' Retirement Administration (MPERA) has, once again, begun a search for an executive director. The original...

Texas ERS Lassos Two for Int'l Equity.
February 6, 2006... The $22 billion Employees' Retirement System of Texas (TERS) has selected Fisher Investments and JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management as its new international equity managers. Mary Jane Wardlow, plan spokeswoman, said that Fisher Investments...

Possible Int'l Equity Hire at UTIMCO.
February 6, 2006... The $18 billion University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) may have added a new international equity manager to its roster. Further details regarding the mandate could not be determined, as calls to Greg Lee, manager of...

Colorado PERA May Redesign Board.
February 6, 2006... The board of the $33 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) have proposed making changes to the structure of the board. The board is currently made up of 16 members, which include the State Auditor and State...

CalSTRS' Assets Swelled in 2005.
February 6, 2006... The California State Teachers' Retirement System's investment portfolio surged 10.2% during 2005, bringing the value of its assets up to $137.1 billion. CalSTRS' real estate and private equity portfolios posted the largest gains, rising...

Survey: Asian and European PE Set For Influx: Cash-Flooded Investors Search for New Opportunities.
February 6, 2006... About half of all Asian and European institutional investors are planning to increase their allocations to private equity over the next six months. But, without access to top quartile funds in the U.S., the bulk of those new allocations are...

The New Pension Game: Corporate DB Plans Brace for Reforms.
February 6, 2006... For the defined-benefit pension plans that US corporations have built up over the decades, 2006 shapes up as a watershed-the start of a protracted, and troublesome period of change. Legislators, accountants and regulators are all preparing a...

Odds & Ends.
February 6, 2006... *Ben Bernanke has been appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. He replaces Alan Greenspan, who is retiring after holding the position of Chairman since 1987. Bernanke was most recently Chairman of the President's Council of Economic...

DB Plan to Remain in Colo.
February 13, 2006... Plans to scrap the defined benefit portion of the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) hit the cutting room floor last week. Representative Joe Stengel, had proposed that all new employees be placed in a...

LACERS Seeks Consultant; Issues S&P RFI.
February 13, 2006... The $9.3 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) has launched an RFP for a general pension fund consultant and has issued an RFI for a manager to oversee an S&P 500 account of an undetermined size. Full details of...

Nevada CIO To Step Down.
February 13, 2006... Laura Wallace, CIO of the $14 billion Nevada Public Employees' Retirement System (NVPERS) is resigning from her post at the fund after 25 years of service. "I am stepping down," she said, adding that she has not set a definitive date for...

SEI Poll: Plans Not Prepared for Pension Reforms.
February 13, 2006... A poll of 151 executives responsible for the management of defined benefit plans found that 78% of executives think pension reform will make plan management more complex. While 62% of executives admitting that their organizations were not...

Ohio Highway Patrol Seeks Consultant.
February 13, 2006... The $715 million Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System has issued an RFP for an investment consultant- a move that could unseat Callan Associates, the plan's consultant since June 2000. Dick Curtis, executive director, explained that the...

Sacramento Picks Two for REITs.
February 13, 2006... The $4.8 billion Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System (SCERS) has invested in two REITs, which will be managed by Principal Real Estate Investors and Urdang Securities Management. Each manager will oversee approximately $20...

Delaware Fund Seeks Investment Consultant.
February 13, 2006... The $375 million New Castle County Employees' Pension Program has issued an RFP for a general investment consultant. Gayle Logan, the plan's pension and benefits manager, said that Wilmington Trust has served as the plan's consultant for...

Worcester Hunts for Value Manager.
February 13, 2006... The $550 million Worcester Regional Retirement Board has launched a search for a small-cap value manager, IMW learned last week. Kevin Leonard, Worcester's consultant with Segal Advisors, said the board decided to search to replace a...

Southbridge Launches Int'l Equity Search.
February 13, 2006... The $21 million Southbridge Retirement Board is searching for an international equity manager to handle a "core growth and high alpha" portfolio valued at $1 million. Further details regarding the search could not be obtained by press...

Assemlyman Pushes for CalPERS Audit.
February 13, 2006... California Assemblyman Keith Richman has introduced A.B. 1961 into California legislature. If passed, the bill would require an audit of the $200 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System by Dec. 31, 2007 and one every three...

VRS Looks for Equity Analyst.
February 13, 2006... The Virginia Retirement System is looking to enhance its staff with the addition of a public equity analyst, said Jeanne Chenault, spokeswoman for the $44 billion fund. In the newly created position, the analyst would assist with the...

New Mexico Adds to Private Equity Stable.
February 13, 2006... The roughly $13 billion New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSIC) will appoint-pending contract negotiations-Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe X and Carlyle Mexico Partners to each oversee $25 million in private equity investments. Welsh,...

Maine To Endorse Sudan Exit.
February 13, 2006... The $7.58 billion Maine State Retirement System (MSRS) will join the growing number of plans that have divested from companies with ties to Sudan if bill L.D. 1758 is passed. The bill is sponsored by Senator Ethan Strimling and has the full...

Endowments & Foundations Performed Well in 05.
February 13, 2006... The median returns for endowments and foundations last year outpaced their peers in the corporate and public pension fund realm, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS). Endowments and foundations posted a gain of...

Experts: Scrutinize Your Soft Dollars Closely: SEC Proposal Nuances Some Rules, Changes Others.
February 13, 2006... The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed interpretive release on soft dollars has been on the comment block for a good three months now, which is a good two months beyond its intended period, and most industry experts are fairly...

Odds & Ends.
February 13, 2006... *Deutsche Asset Management announced the appointment of Stephane Amara as director of alternative and quantitative business development in Canada and Eddie Vandiver as director of alternative and quantitative business development group in the...

Denver Schools Chooses New Director.
February 20, 2006... The Denver Public Schools Retirement System has named Lara Calhoun as executive director of the $2.6 billion fund. Calhoun is the former deputy executive director of benefits at the $33 billion Colorado Employees' Retirement Association....

LA Water & Power Watches BNY.
February 20, 2006... The $6 billion Los Angeles Water and Power Retirement Plan has placed the Bank of New York Asset Management on watch for performance issues, said Sangeeta Bhatia, administrator of the fund. Bhatia said that the firm has managed a $100...

CalPERS to Issue Enhanced Index RFP...
February 20, 2006... The investment committee of the $206.8 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has approved a recommendation to issue an RFP for relaxed-long enhanced index managers. Brad Pacheco, spokesman for CalPERS, explained...

...Eyes International Fixed-Income.
February 20, 2006... CalPERS is getting set to release an RFP for a spring-fed pool of advisors to actively manage its $5.4 billion international fixed-income portfolio. The plan will issue the RFP in April or May, said Pacheco, but a timeframe for the...

Natick Hunts for Private Equity Mgr.
February 20, 2006... The $67 million Natick Retirement Board has issued an RFP for a private equity manager to oversee a $3 million portfolio for the fund. Further details on the search were scant, as calls to Kathleen Bacon, plan director, were referred to...

MOSERS Disputes Conflict Rumors.
February 20, 2006... The Missouri Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS) has recently received public criticism stemming from the results of a state audit conducted of the $6 billion fund. Last week, Executive Director Gary Findlay reached out to IMW, stating...

Maryland to Fill CIO Post.
February 20, 2006... The $33 billion State Retirement System of Maryland is looking to hire a new CIO for the fund, said Anne Budowski, spokeswoman for the Baltimore-based plan. The search is being conducted to replace Steven Huber who left the fund Feb. 1,...

Evergreen Adds Sales Pro.
February 20, 2006... In a continuous effort to boost its Northeast-based business, Evergreen Institutional has hired Craig Ferrero as director of short term investment management sales. He joined the firm Feb. 13. "This is a new position in New York City,"...

WSIB to Add Research Position.
February 20, 2006... The $65 billion Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) is searching for a research director. Calls to Theresa Whitmarsh, the WSIB's chief operating officer, were directed to spokeswoman Liz Mendizabel, who explained that this is a new...

BWC's "Coingate" Instigator is Indicted.
February 20, 2006... Tom Noe, made infamous during the "coingate" scandal at the $15.8 billion Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC), has been indicted on 53 felony charges-22 counts of forgery, 11 counts of money laundering, eight counts of tampering with...

Mich. Treasurer Bolts To New Post.
February 20, 2006... Michigan State Treasurer Jay Rising has resigned from his post to accept a position as VP and CFO of the $1.1 billion Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Rising, who could not be reached for comment by IMW's press time, will officially leave his...

MLIM/BlackRock Deal: All About Scale.
February 20, 2006... Pegged as the largest transaction ever in the global asset management industry, last week's official announcement of the merger between Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) and BlackRock didn't seem to raise the hackles of plan sponsor...

Acadian: Giving Clients A Global Approach.
February 20, 2006... John Chisholm, fresh out of business school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management with his two partners, Ron Frashure and Gary Bergston, took a little start-up consultancy they'd begun in the late 1980s and...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 20, 2006... In the Feb. 6 issue of Investment Management Weekly, New England Pension Consultants (NEPC) was misidentified as the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado's (FPPA) incumbent real estate consultant. NEPC is not, and has never been the...

Odds & Ends.
February 20, 2006... *The $11 the $206.8 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System has reappointed State Street Corporation to provide including custody, accounting, daily valuation and performance and analytic services for the plan. State Street has...

State Owed $13.5M in Ohio BWC Flap.
February 27, 2006... Following his recent indictment (See IMW, 2/20/06), findings of an audit revealed that Tom Noe-who lost millions in a rare coin investment for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)-owes the state more than $13.5 million, according to...

Illinois Teachers' Places BlackRock on Watch: Preps for Transition Management RFP.
February 27, 2006... As first reported on IMW's Web site, imweekly.com (2/21/06), the Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois (TRS) has placed BlackRock on watch as a result of its recent organizational restructuring and will alsoissue an RFP for transition...

NM PERA Discusses Enhanced Index Manager: Is There a Large-Cap Growth RFP in the Works?
February 27, 2006... The future of INTECH at the New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association is being kept a secret, at least until later this week, according to an official at the $9.5 billion pension fund. The firm, which oversees an approximately...

Deep Freeze: More Plan Sponsors Put Their Pensions On Ice.
February 27, 2006... The hottest trend in pension plans may be to freeze them, according to IMW's sister publication Employee Benefit News. Some high-profile companies put their pension plans on deep freeze in 2005, eliminating the option for new hires and...

Hawaii Eyes Bishop Street...Again.
February 27, 2006... The $9.6 billion Employees' Retirement System of Hawaii reportedly placed Bishop Street Capital Management on watch for performance issues during its Feb. 14 board meeting. According to Nelson's MarketPlace Web.com, the firm oversees a $33...

Two On Watch at Michigan Plan.
February 27, 2006... The $432 million City of Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System has placed Morgan Stanley Asset Management and Montag & Caldwell on watch, according to the agenda from the plan's Feb. 16 board meeting. Full details of the action could not...

Georgia City Plan Launches Searches.
February 27, 2006... The City of Macon is searching for an investment consultant for its $63 million defined benefit plan. According to an RFP issued by the city, the plan will consider proposals from firms which have at least three years consulting experience...

Fresno Preps Real Estate Search.
February 27, 2006... The $2.4 billion Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association will be launching a search for a $50 million core private real estate manager, confirmed Roberto Pena, administrator of the fund. "We have a 5% allocation to real estate,"...

CalPERS Re-Appoints Board President, VP.
February 27, 2006... The $206 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has re-elected Rob Feckner as president of the plan's board of trustees. Feckner, who was re-elected on Feb. 16, has been on the board, representing school members,...

Tenn. Fund Selects Growth Finalists.
February 27, 2006... The $480 million Knoxville City Employees' Pension Fund has selected a manager to oversee its smid-cap growth account, but officials will remain tight-lipped on the identity of the firm, citing negotiations on management fees. Michael...

Oklahoma Teachers' Select Finalists.
February 27, 2006... The $7.8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma has selected Sawgrass Asset Management, Neuberger Berman, Chase Investment Counsel and Aletheia Research and Management as finalists in a search for a large-cap growth manager to oversee...

Texas Teachers Talk Blue.
February 27, 2006... The board of the $94 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) is discussing the possibility of implementing a new investment policy that would prevent them from investing in companies with ties to the pornography industry. The...

NTGI's Hardy Discusses Evolution of Transition Management.
February 27, 2006... "If it's important to you, then it's important to us." It's not a tag line from a television commercial, but rather Kevin Hardy's sentiment regarding transition management and all institutional plan sponsors, big and small. In recent...

Odds & Ends.
February 27, 2006... *Roelfien Kuijpers has been appointed global head of Deutsche Asset Management's (DeAM) institutional business, where she will be responsible for the firm's fixed-income, equity, and cash businesses. She will also retain her responsibilities as...