Investment Management Weekly articles from January 2004

Investment Management Weekly archives from January 2004

State Street Hatches New CIOs.
January 5, 2004... State Street Research & Management Company will begin 2004 by staffing two new equity chief investment officer positions with company veterans. Jeffrey Lindsey was appointed to CIO of growth investing for the firm, and Peter Zuger was...

ERISA Said to Seek Putnam Replacement.
January 5, 2004... Siemens Corporation, the Iselin, N.J.-based electrical equipment stalwart, is said to be searching for one or more money managers, according to sources familiar with the company's defined benefit (DB) pension plans. The manager opportunity...

L.A. Guns & Hoses to Add Alts Managers.
January 5, 2004... The $12 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension Fund has allocated assets in the range of $600 million to new alternative investments, said Rick Rogers, investment officer for the fund. Manager searches will begin after the plan completes...

Hopeful Signs, Hard Lessons in 2003.
January 5, 2004... The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovering above 10,000 by year's end was not something investors were betting on as the Big Board entered 2003. The DJIA began the year with a frightening plummet that did not reach its nadir until March....

Searches In View for Tennessee Valley.
January 5, 2004... The board of the $9.3 billion Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System is deciding what to do with approximately $145 million that became available after the plan terminated Putnam Investments from a mortgage-backed security account. ...

ACERA Gets Creative With Manager Fees.
January 5, 2004... In a move to prevent excessive manager fees from dragging down net returns, the $3.4 billion Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association has repositioned the $64 million account of manager AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust from its...

Milwaukee Taps William Blair & Co.
January 5, 2004... The $4.2 billion Milwaukee Employees' Retirement System has selected William Blair & Co. to manage just under $300 million in an international core equity account, replacing Putnam Investments. Jennifer Shannon, the plan's investment...

Scandal Scorecard.
January 5, 2004... September 3, 2003. It was an unseasonably warm Wednesday morning. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, entered the office with an agenda: To weed out the scoundrels in the mutual fund industry. Maybe that wasn't really on Spitzer's...

2003: Year In Review.
January 5, 2004... 1/6 A London court found Eric Suschetet, former senior managing director at Bear Stearns, not guilty of telling an Air France duty manager that a bomb was on the plane. Suschetet allegedly called in the threat after he was told he was too...

People Moves in 2003.
January 5, 2004... HAPPY TRAILS After 22 years with the firm, Andrew Adelson, CIO and manager of international investments for AllianceBernstein Institutional Investment Management, hung up his hat. The Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association...

Profile Quotables.
January 5, 2004... John Brown, head of institutional management at Putnam Investments, on market turnaround. "I think if there is a war in the Middle East, the markets will be choppy, very volatile, with little movement up or down. Then afterwards, I think...

Gartmore Promotes Three.
January 12, 2004... Gartmore Global Investments has promoted three individuals within the firm. Bob Wagner, president of the firms emerging managers division, was promoted to head of U.S. institutional sales and marketing; Rick Hein, who joined in 2003 to...

Colorado Bravest & Finest Ponders Searches.
January 12, 2004... The $2.1 billion Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado is eyeing searches for international equity and hedge fund managers and intends to add millions to its private equity portfolio this year, Senior Fund Officer Bill Morris said. ...

Maryland Plan to Add Alternative Managers.
January 12, 2004... The board of the $2.1 billion Montgomery County Employees Retirement System is moving to add new alternative investment managers to its lineup, the Executive Director Peter Krzyzek, said. Krzyzek declined to comment on the size of the...

Virginia County Plan Seeks Intl. Equity.
January 12, 2004... The $1.4 billion Fairfax County Educational Employees Supplemental Retirement System will launch a search for an international equity manager to oversee a mandate of a yet to be determined size, the Virginia plans Finance Coordinator Bob...

San Bernardino Seeks Europe-Centric Intl. P.E.
January 12, 2004... The $3.4 billion San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association is searching for one or more international private equity fund-of-funds managers, specializing on Europe, said Don Pierce, SBCERAs senior investment officer, adding that...

Maryland Plan Seeks PE Consultant.
January 12, 2004... The $26 billion Maryland Retirement & Pension System has launched a search for a private equity consultant. Joe Coale, spokesman for the retirement system, said that the search is a first for the pension fund. We have been in this area...

Mass. Plan Embarks on Real Estate Search.
January 12, 2004... The $200 million City of Brockton Contributory Retirement Plan has launched a search for a real estate manager to oversee a $7 million mandate. Specific reasons for the search could not be determined, as calls to Harold Hannah, executive...

Orange County Terminates Two.
January 12, 2004... The $4.8 billion Orange County Employees Retirement System has finally parted ways with Geewax Terker, its small-cap growth manager and Marvin Palmer & Associates, its international equity manager. Both managers had been on the plans watch...

Idaho Taps Callan, Plots Searches.
January 12, 2004... The board of the $6.6 billion Idaho Public Employees Retirement System has hired Callan Associates as its new general consultant, the plans Chief Investment Officer Bob Maynard, said. The completion of the consultant search means the plan...

Nevada Hires for S&P Index Account.
January 12, 2004... The $14 billion Public Employees Retirement System of Nevada has hired Mellon Capital Management and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers to oversee a roughly $900 million Standard & Poors 500 Index account. The search, which was initiated to...

Arizona Picks Real Estate Consultant.
January 12, 2004... Paving the way for real-estate searches, the $20 billion Arizona State Retirement System has hired Courtland Partners as its new real-estate consultant, plan spokesman David Canella said. The plan had carved out a 6% allocation to real...

Fledgling Firm Hires for Client Services.
January 12, 2004... Deborah George, most recently the director of marketing and client services at Philippe Investment Management, was hired by Blaylock-Abacus Asset Management as managing director of marketing and client service, according to IMWs sister...

Industry Players Lock Horns Over Fees.
January 12, 2004... Proving the battle over mutual fund fees is far from over, a press briefing last week by the mutual fund industrys main lobbyist, the Investment Company Institute (ICI), erupted into temporary chaos when the authors of a study the ICI was in...

Sector Rotation Spells Long-Term Success for Mara.
January 12, 2004... Mike Mara, the president of Valley Forge Capital Advisors, is a true believer in the staying power of the U.S. economy. Despite warnings by some economists that issues such as a weakened dollar, interest rates, over-inflated stock...

Odds & Ends.
January 12, 2004... A Hewitt Associates survey said that approximately 40% of 200 defined benefit plan sponsors would freeze plans within a year if regulatory and legislative backing is not offered. The survey also found that some 21% of plan sponsors would switch...

Active Managers Outperform.
January 19, 2004... Active fund managers outperformed their S&P benchmarks in five out of nine investment styles, according to the 2003 Standard & Poor's Indices Versus Active Fund Scorecard (SPIVA). Indices bettered active funds in three styles, and tied one...

OPERS Plots Multiple Searches in 04.
January 19, 2004... The $70 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System is taking significant steps to add managers and investment options to its portfolio in 2004, according to an OPERS report obtained by IMW. The report, authored by OPERS CIO Neil Toth,...

Milwaukee Seeks Private Equity Program.
January 19, 2004... The $4.2 billion Milwaukee Employees' Retirement System is gearing up to make its first investment in private equity, Milwaukee Investment Officer Jennifer Shannon said. The plan is presently wrangling with state lawmakers in an effort to...

PBGC: Rocky Road Ahead for DB Plans.
January 19, 2004... The outlook appears to be dismal for pension funds in the upcoming years, according to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) . Last week, the organization reported a whopping deficit of $11.2 billion, an increase from its original...

Georgia Hoses to Add Equity Managers.
January 19, 2004... The $400 million Georgia Firefighter's Pension Fund is looking to add as many as two new equity managers, Senior Fund Officer Jim Meynard said. Meynard declined to detail the styles or mandate sizes of the pending searches, saying only...

Changes Brewing in Imperial County.
January 19, 2004... The board of the $308 million Imperial County Employees' Retirement System will soon decide whether the results of its recently completed actuarial study warrant manager searches, the California plan's Employee Benefits Officer Barbara...

California Plan Picks PE Finalists.
January 19, 2004... The investment committee of the $380 million Merced County Retirement System has selected five finalists to oversee an allocation to private equity, CIO Richard Stensrud said. Adams Street Partners, Hamilton Lane Advisors, Invesco, Pomona...

El Paso to Lasso Large-Cap Manager.
January 19, 2004... The $435 million El Paso Fire & Police Pension Fund is winding down a search for a manager to oversee a $25 million large-cap active growth mandate, El Paso Pension Administrator Robert Stanton said. Stanton declined to name the finalists...

Okla. Teachers Spare Northern, Mellon.
January 19, 2004... Northern Trust Global Investment Services and Mellon Capital Management have saved their jobs with the $5.8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma, the plan's CIO Bill Puckett said. The two managers have been removed from the...

Ashmore Joins San Bernardino Lineup.
January 19, 2004... The $3.4 billion San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association has awarded Ashmore Investment Management a $75 million emerging market debt mandate, said Don Pierce, SBCERA's senior investment officer. Ashmore beat out finalists...

Ohio House Bill Still Unresolved.
January 19, 2004... Legislation that could significantly alter Ohio's five retirement systems remained unsettled at the end of last year after House and Senate members stalled on the "final language" for the proposed pension reform. House Bill 227 calls for...

SEC Tightens Grip on Fund Behavior.
January 19, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission last week broadened its effort to fortify investor confidence by proposing recommendations that would deter insider trading within mutual funds, while changing the way many funds staff their board of...

MLIM's Doll Predicts Future.
January 19, 2004... A doubling of the Federal interest rate, tapped-out domestic consumers, a Republican presidential victory and a rate of growth in the U.S. economy not seen in five years were just some of the predictions for 2004 offered up last week by Robert...

Smaller Stocks Mean Big Opportunity for Essex's Craig Lewis.
January 19, 2004... Craig Lewis, the principal and portfolio manager for Essex Investment Management Company, sees a great deal of promise in relatively small things. In his role as sub-advisor to the small-cap, small-mid cap and mid-cap portfolio of The...

Survey: Property Investing Helps Cover Benefits.
January 26, 2004... Real-estate investments are responsible for covering an average of 16.7% of the benefits paid by plan sponsors, even though real-estate investments make up only 7% of the average plan sponsor's portfolio, according to a survey by Institutional...

PACT Seeks $100m Large-Cap Manager.
January 26, 2004... The $570 million Alabama Pre-Paid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) has launched a search for a large-cap equity manager to oversee an account worth approximately $100 million. PACT Deputy Treasurer Anthony Lee said that the search was...

International Equity, Alternatives Up in 4Q.
January 26, 2004... Investments in international equity and alternative vehicles were at an all-time fourth quarter high in 2003. Plan sponsors-looking to take advantage of the weakening US dollar and to take action against money managers plagued by the mutual...

Sacramento Plots Real Estate Searches.
January 26, 2004... The $4 billion Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System is preparing to search for a discretionary real-estate manager to assist the plan in fulfilling an increased allocation to the investment sector. Jeffrey States the plan's CIO...

Vt. Studies Global Equity, Hedge Funds.
January 26, 2004... The board of the $171 million Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System is considering its first foray into global equity investments and continues to study the dynamics of hedge fund investing, said David Minot, the system's Director of...

Tacoma Brushing Up On High-Yield Bonds.
January 26, 2004... The board of the $744 million Tacoma Employees' Retirement System will bone up on high-yield bond investing and could make investments in the asset class in the coming months, according to the plan's Jan. 8 board minutes obtained by IMW. ...

Loomis on Hot Seat In Ann Arbor.
January 26, 2004... The $432 million Ann Arbor City Employees' Retirement System has placed equity manager Loomis, Sayles & Company on watch. Willie Powell, the plan's executive director, decline to comment on the firm's watch status. However, according...

Mass. Muni on ProwlFor Int'l Equity Mgr.
January 26, 2004... The $160 million Brookline Contributory Retirement System is searching for an international equity manager to oversee between $10 million and $20 million of the Massachusetts plan's assets-a move that could replace an existing manager. ...

Toll Agency Searches For Bond Advisor.
January 26, 2004... The $800 million Bay Area Toll Authority is has launched a search for a firm to provide financial and investment advisory services concerning its bond transactions, BATA staffer Susan Woo said. Deadline for request for proposals (RFPs) is...

SamCERA Irons out Investment Portfolio.
January 26, 2004... The board of the $1.3 billion San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association has honed in on certain changes to its investment portfolio that could result in manager searches, said Sid McCausland, the chief investment officer for the...

Colorado Plan Drops Strong Capital.
January 26, 2004... The roughly $175 million El Paso County Retirement Plan has terminated Strong Capital Management from a $17.5 million large-cap growth account and is in the midst of hiring a replacement for the beleaguered manager. David Klemmer,...

Florida SBA Appoints New CIO.
January 26, 2004... The Florida State Board of Administration has named David Villa its new CIO. Villa, who was most recently an executive director with UBS Asset Management, takes the reins from Barbara Jarriel, who is retiring after 30 years with the fund....

Industry Pro Creates Third-Party Firm.
January 26, 2004... James Lee, former VP of institutional sales at Citigroup Asset Management, launched a third-party marketing firm, Patrick Hubert Partners on Jan. 12. Lee, who has been in the investment management industry for over 23 years, said that the...

Billion$ Lost in Investment Returns at UC.
January 26, 2004... The exposure of a sealed University of California transcript revealed that previous investment practices caused the university to lose out on more than $2.5 billion in investment returns by not hiring external managers from 1992 through 2002....

Fort Washington's Brendan White Remains Bullish On High-Yield Bonds.
January 26, 2004... Brendan White, manager of the Touchstone High Yield Bond Fund for Fort Washington Investment Advisors, contends that while some market analysts see high-yield bonds as having run their course for this cycle, the sector actually remains a solid...

Odds & Ends.
January 26, 2004... *Investment management firm William D. Witter, Inc. has hired Aaron Kilberg as its managing director and head of marketing and client services. He was previously head of marketing and sales at Times Square Capital Management. Kilberg's...