Investment Management Weekly articles from January 2007

Investment Management Weekly archives from January 2007

Ill. Courts to Rule on Sudan.
January 8, 2007... A ruling is expected within the next month regarding a challenge to the Illinois law requiring the state's public pension funds to divest from companies with ties to Sudan, said U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly. According to...

LA 911 to Make Hedge Fund Investments?
January 8, 2007... The $13.5 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System (LAFPP) could finally make investments in hedge funds if it follows recommendations made by consultant Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA) at a Jan. 4 meeting. The recommendation...

Beantown Looks for Small-Cap Equity Manager.
January 8, 2007... The $4 billion Boston Retirement System has issued an RFP for a small-cap value equity manager to oversee a mandate of up to $100 million for the plan, according to the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission's (PERAC) Web site....

Managers Expect Strong Returns in 2007.
January 8, 2007... The year has only just begun, but already money managers are predicting that 2007 could bring some of the most fruitful returns the market has seen in years. According to Russell's Investment Manager Outlook, eight out of 10 managers feel...

Kentucky Funds Looking to Divest?
January 8, 2007... Proof that the topic was not merely a trend of last year, much discussion has been focused lately on the possibility of Kentucky's two largest retirement plans-the $15.2 billion Kentucky Retirement System (KRS) and the $13 billion Kentucky...

Calif. Fund Considers Hedge Fund-of-funds.
January 8, 2007... The board of the $5.7 billion San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association (SBCERA) discussed a possible fund-of-credit hedge funds investment at its Jan. 4 meeting. The agenda noted that the board would discuss and possibly...

New Jersey Hires Alternatives Managers.
January 8, 2007... The $79 billion New Jersey State Investment Council approved four new investments, confirmed Tom Vincz, a spokesman for the Trenton plan. At its Dec. 21 meeting, the council approved commitments of $100 million to Hellman & Friedman Capital...

Mass. Fund Seeks New Administrator.
January 8, 2007... The board of the $21 million Maynard Retirement Board is looking for a new administrator to oversee the day-to-day operations of the fund, including acting as a liaison with investment managers, custodians and consultants, as well as ensuring...

Evergreen Hires Sales Pros.
January 8, 2007... Evergreen Investments has hired Kirsten Burton and Sean Kelly as sales directors for its institutional division, said Dan Flaherty, a spokesman for the firm. Last year, the asset manager told IMW that it would continue to focus on building...

2006 Year In Review.
January 8, 2007... Quotables Late one night I thought, What is it that I want to do with my life?' and it wasn't going back to work for another firm." -William Buechler, founder and president of Barclay Partners Asset Management, on why he launched his...

People 2006.
January 8, 2007... NEW DIGS Stewart Dier, joined the New York City Retirement Systems as director of public equities. Prior to this, he was head of RFPs and market analytics at Nicholas-Applegate Capital Management. Christopher DeRose was named executive...

2006 At A Glance.
January 8, 2007... Jan. 2 A coal mine in Sago, W. Va. explodes resulting in 13 miners being trapped for nearly two days, with only one miner surviving. Feb. 11 Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots 78-year-old Harry Whittington in the face, neck and...

NYC to Invest in Hedge Funds?
January 15, 2007... New York City Comptroller William Thompson is reportedly in the late stages of a study to determine whether the city's five pension funds-valued at approximately $95 billion-should start investing in hedge funds. According to published...

Connecticut Launches Consultant Search.
January 15, 2007... The Pension Funds Management Division for Connecticut has issued an RFP for an investment consultant to help oversee its $24 billion in assets. The division makes investment decisions on behalf of the State Employees' Retirement Fund, the...

City of Medford Hunts for Index Manager.
January 15, 2007... The $145 million City of Medford Contributory Retirement System is searching for an asset manager to oversee an enhanced index mandate. According to a document obtained by IMW, the portfolio-slated to be $22 million-will be benchmarked...

Spotlight on China: Investors Finding the Region Hard to Ignore.
January 15, 2007... The investment strategists at the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) have a dilemma. They look at China, with its galloping economy, and want to get a piece of that investment for its plan, but then they look at the risks...

Ohio PERS Seeks New Consultant.
January 15, 2007... The $73.6 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has issued an RFP for an investment consultant, which could potentially replace the incumbent Ennis Knupp + Associates. Rich Baker, spokesman for OPERS, explained that the...

LA County Looks for PE Advisor.
January 15, 2007... The board of the $35 billion Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) has issued an RFP for a non-discretionary private equity advisor. Christopher Wagner, the senior investment officer of private equity with LACERA,...

Middlesex R.S. Issues RFP.
January 15, 2007... The board of the $700 million Middlesex Retirement System has initiated a search for a consultant to assist the plan with its $60 million alternative investment portfolio. According to the Public Employee Retirement Administration...

Mass. Plan Seeks New Administrator.
January 15, 2007... The $20 million Montague Contributory Retirement System is looking for a new administrator, according to the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission's (PERAC) Web site. The administrator is responsible for the day-to-day...

New Mexico Plan Eyes More Alternatives.
January 15, 2007... The $11.5 billion New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association (NMPERA) considered two potential alternative investments at a Jan. 9 meeting. According to the agenda, the investment committee recommended placing $30 million each...

Virginia Fund Narrows Down Search.
January 15, 2007... The board of the $1.8 billion Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) has selected two finalists in its search for an investment consultant, confirmed a source at the fund. At a Jan. 3 meeting, the...

San Fran Hires Alternative Managers.
January 15, 2007... The board of the $15.2 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) has reportedly hired three new investment managers. According to the agenda from a Jan. 9 meeting, the board was expected to discuss...

Seneca Capital Offers Pension Fund-Friendly CLOs, CDOs.
January 15, 2007... Attractive returns have always been a selling point for plan sponsors, leading many to seek solace in fixed-income. Samuel Austin, senior portfolio advisor with Seneca Capital Management contends that this continues to be the case, with one...

BlackRock's Doll Predicts the Year Ahead.
January 15, 2007... To know what the future will hold is a dream of many people, and to know which way the market will move would surely have any investor salivating. While we don't have Nostradamus to prophesy about the market in the coming year, we do have Bob...

Odds & Ends.
January 15, 2007... *Evergreen Investments has announced an agreement to acquire a majority interest in London-based fixed-income manager European Credit Management for approximately $26 billion. The combined organization will have over $280 billion in assets...

California Funds Launch New Database.
January 22, 2007... The $225 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and $148.9 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) have unveiled their Emerging Managers and other Financial Service Provider (EMFSP) database....

UVIMCO Terminates Hedge Fund Manager.
January 22, 2007... The University of Virginia Investment Management Company (UVIMCO) has trimmed the fat on its hedge fund manager line-up, according to a report posted on the roughly $3 billion University of Virginia's Web site. "Overall, our hedge fund...

Oklahoma Police to Issue Real Estate RFP.
January 22, 2007... The board of the $1.3 billion Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System (OPPRS) is gearing up to issue an RFP for a core real estate manager, said Steven Snyder, the plan's deputy executive director and general counsel. Snyder said...

Pension Funds Up the Ante on Private Equity: Cleantech Expected to Lead the Way.
January 22, 2007... Last year was a big one for long-time private equity investors like the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) and the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (PSERS). SWIB's $76 billion pension fund soared past its benchmark of...

Kern County Places One on Watch.
January 22, 2007... The Kern County Employees' Retirement Association (KCERA) recently approved several new investments and added a manager to its watchlist, according to California plan's Web site. At a December investment board meeting, the roughly $2...

CalSTRS Seeks Real Estate Fiduciary.
January 22, 2007... The $148.9 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has launched a search for real estate independent fiduciaries to assist the plan with due diligence in the evaluation of commingled funds, joint ventures, REITs, debt...

Worcester Eyes Real Estate.
January 22, 2007... The $650 million Worcester Retirement System has issued an RFP for a real estate manager, according to the Web site of its consultant, Meketa Investment Group. The Massachusetts plan is searching for a firm with capabilities and experience...

Orange County Looks at New Investments.
January 22, 2007... The private markets committee of the $6.5 billion Orange County Employees' Retirement System (OCERS) discussed several possible new allocations at its meeting last week. The committee was slated to discuss investing in publicly traded real...

San Diego City Selects International Finalists.
January 22, 2007... The investment committee of the $3.13 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) interviewed three finalists in its search for an international equity large-cap growth manager. According to the plan's Web site, the...

Wisconsin to Lose Executive Director.
January 22, 2007... The $88 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) is gearing up to hunt for a new executive director, following David Mill's announcement that he would be retiring by the end of 2007 after three years in the position. Mills had...

LA 911 Consider Two Investments.
January 22, 2007... The board of the $14.8 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Plan (LAFPP) recently discussed two private equity investments. According to the agenda for a Jan. 18 meeting, the board considered possible investments of $10 million in...

Colorado PERA Fears Sudan Divestment.
January 22, 2007... While lawmakers consider passing legislation banning holdings in companies with ties to Sudan in Colorado, some staff members of the $35.2 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (COPERA) fear that forcing the plan to divest...

Most Hedge Funds Remain Registered: Prepare for SEC Exams; Staying Squeaky Clean.
January 22, 2007... After the fight for the right to remain unregistered, only about 10% of those hedge fund advisors that signed up with the Securities and Exchange Commission before last year's Feb. 1 deadline have opted to withdraw, according to data from the...

Odds & Ends.
January 22, 2007... *Former California state treasurer and 2006 gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides has opened a real estate investment firm called Riverview Capital Investors. *Evergreen Investments has appointed Abe Riazati as the firm's managing...

U.S. Pension Funds Consider Iran Divestment.
January 29, 2007... Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's opposition leader, met with Massachusetts treasurer, Tim Cahill, executive director of the state's $46 billion pension fund, Michael Travaglini, as well as representatives from New Hampshire and Rhode Island on...

Pa. State ERS Preps Alternatives Consultant Search.
January 29, 2007... The $58.5 billion Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) could begin the search for a new consultant to oversee its $515 million alternative investments portfolio as early as April, in order to have a new contract in place by...

Gotham City Funds Take a Bite Out of Apple.
January 29, 2007... The $100 billion New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) has been selected as lead plaintiff in a shareholder lawsuit filed against Apple. The lawsuit alleges that Apple broke securities laws through its options awards to...

Payden & Rygel Uses Winning EM Strategy.
January 29, 2007... There are a lot of ways to invest in emerging market countries' debt, but Kristin Ceva, a principal at Los Angeles-based Payden & Rygel Investment Management, where she directs the firm's global fixed-income group and its emerging market...

Worcester Fund Eyes More Timber.
January 29, 2007... The board of the $710 million Worcester Retirement System has launched a search for a manager of private market timber strategies. According to the RFP, the board is looking to put between $4 million and $6 million into a strategy that...

CalPERS to Take on Manager Role?
January 29, 2007... The $228 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) could soon be managing investments for retirees other than its standard public workers, confirmed Clark McKinley, spokesman for the plan. "This is part of out...

City of Ann Arbor Hires Northern Trust.
January 29, 2007... The board of the $432 million City of Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System has selected a new commission recapture firm, according to the minutes from the board's December meeting. After issuing an RFI early last year, the system's board...

Denver Plan Hires for Small-Cap Equity.
January 29, 2007... The board of the $1.8 billion Denver Employees' Retirement System selected a new small-cap growth manager at its Jan. 19 meeting, said Steven Hutt, executive director with the plan. The board heard presentations from three...

Pa. School ERS Considers Managers.
January 29, 2007... The $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) considered a few potential investments at its Jan. 25 meeting, according to the agenda. PSERS discussed four proposed private equity investments in Navis Asia...

Garden State Fund Hires Alt. Managers.
January 29, 2007... The $79.4 billion New Jersey Division of Investment (DOI) recently approved new investments in real estate, private equity and hedge funds, according to its Web site. The Trenton-based plan will invest $100 million each with private equity...

Cincinnati Hires New Advisor.
January 29, 2007... The $2.6 billion City of Cincinnati Retirement System has selected a new investment consultant, according to the minutes from the plan's December meeting. The document indicates that after ranking finalists in the search for a new...

New Russell Index Uses Global' Metrics.
January 29, 2007... Russell Investment Group has released a new global index, creating fresh benchmarks for small-cap and large-cap companies in developed and emerging markets. For diversification purposes, the new index was sliced into 300 core indexes,...

Odds & Ends.
January 29, 2007... R. Dean Kenderdine has been named executive director for the $35.4 billion Maryland State Retirement & Pension System. He served as the interim executive director prior to his permanent appointment. Kenderdine replaces Thomas Lee, who left the...