Investment Management Weekly articles from July 2008

Investment Management Weekly archives from July 2008

CalPERS Loses Corporate Governance Head.
July 7, 2008... Dennis Johnson is leaving his role as director of corporate governance at the $235.6 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) after three years in the position. He was responsible for the plan's $7 billion corporate...

City of San Diego Seeks PE Advisor.
July 7, 2008... The San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) is searching for private equity advisors to assist the plan with maiden investments in the asset class. The search comes as a result of the board's recent decision to implement a 5%...

NYC Board Of Ed Eyes Real Estate.
July 7, 2008... The City of New York Office of the Comptroller has hit the market for private equity real estate managers on behalf of the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (NYCBERS). According to the RFQ issued for the search, NYCBERS is...

Bursting with Energy: MFC Global Investment Management Finds Value in the Sector.
July 7, 2008... MFC Global Investment Management's Roger Hamilton sure is bullish on energy stocks. The senior VP and portfolio manager of John Hancock's large-cap equity and balanced funds cites Southwest Energy Company as its best performing stock. MFC...

Fayette County Looks At Large-Cap.
July 7, 2008... The hunt is on for a large-cap value manager to oversee $7 million at the Fayette County Pension System. The U.S. equity portfolio will be benchmarked against the Russell 1000 Value index. Calls to Sean Lally, retirement board...

Boston R.S. Launches Bank Loan Search.
July 7, 2008... The Boston Retirement System has issued an RFP for a manager to oversee up to $80 million in a long-only, open-ended bank loan portfolio. Further details regarding the search could not be ascertained. Calls to Robert Tierney, administrator...

New Advisor Sought at Florida Plan.
July 7, 2008... The City of Ocala is on the hunt for a new investment consultant to help its finance department oversee its $136 million portfolio, confirmed Jane Hurley, procurement manager with the city. She said that the search is being conducted...

Worcester Hunts For Non-Core Real Estate.
July 7, 2008... The Worcester Retirement System has issued an RFP for a non-core real estate manager to oversee between $5 million and $15 million in value-added, opportunistic and fund-of-funds strategies for the plan. The account will be benchmarked...

IPERS Wraps Up Fund-Of-Funds Search.
July 7, 2008... The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) has hired two hedge fund-of-funds managers, said Karl Koch, CIO with the $23.8 billion plan. The full board approved recommendations made by the evaluation committee to hire Blackstone...

Odds & Ends.
July 7, 2008... * Ohio State University has hired Jonathan Hook as its first ever CIO, where he will also hold the title of VP and be responsible for the school's $2.2 billion in long-term investments. Hook previously served as CIO and associate VP at Baylor...

Hedge Funds Fear New SEC Regulations.
July 7, 2008... The freewheeling days for hedge funds may be numbered. Depending on who gets elected to the White House in November, the next Securities and Exchange Commission may push to impose additional regulations on hedge funds that, many critics...

Seligman To Be Acquired.
July 14, 2008... Ameriprise Financial's U.S. investment management division, RiverSource intends to acquire J. & W. Seligman & Co., for a reported $440 million. According to published reports, the staff at Seligman will be unchanged and will act as a...

Florida Plan to Replace Merrill.
July 14, 2008... The City of Coral Springs General Employees' Pension Plan is looking for an investment consultant to replace Merrill Lynch at the $6.5 million plan, said Administrator Rosalie Sherman. She noted that the firm stopped providing consulting...

Ohio BWC to Recoup MDL Losses.
July 14, 2008... The $16 billion Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) is one step nearer to closing the chapter on the losses stemming from an investment with hedge fund manager Mark Lay and his firm MDL Capital Management. Last week, Lay was...

Brown Units Merge for Better Biz.(Company overview)
July 14, 2008... In a family, this union might be termed incestuous, but the marriage of two relatively sprightly offspring of the venerable Alex Brown & Sons investment house announced this week looks to produce a strong new asset management firm that will...

Maryland State Fund Hunts for Bond Info.
July 14, 2008... The $37 billion State Retirement and Pension System of Maryland is looking to gather information on long-only, specialty fixed-income products, according to an RFI issued by the plan. The Baltimore-based pension system's bond investments...

Texas ERS Hunts For Real Estate Consultant.
July 14, 2008... The Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) is aiming to bring a consultant on board to assist with the development of a long-term real estate investment strategy, said Mary Jane Wardlow, spokeswoman for the fund. She explained that the...

Holyoke R.S. Considers Private Equity.
July 14, 2008... In a move that could lead to an allocation in the asset class, the $250 million Holyoke Retirement System is assembling information from private equity advisors, said Daniel Owens, the Massachusetts plan's administrator. Owens said that he...

KCERA Eyes State Street For Real Return.
July 14, 2008... State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) was considered to manage an $85 million U.S. TIPS index portfolio for the Kern County Employees' Retirement Association (KCERA) at its investment board meeting last week. KCERA issued an RFI for real...

Guns and Hoses Plan Narrows Search.
July 14, 2008... The Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System (LAFPP) met with eight firms in its search for hedge fund-of-funds managers at a meeting last week. According to the agenda, the finalist firms were Common Sense Investment Management, Crestline...

New Hampshire State Plan Hires NEPC.
July 14, 2008... The investment committee of the New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) wrapped up its search for an alternative investment consultant last week, said Kristie Kathan, executive assistant at the $6 billion plan. Kathan said that NEPC was...

San Bernardino Makes New Investments.
July 14, 2008... The San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association (SBCERA) recently made commitments to three new funds, said Don Pierce, investment officer with the $6 billion plan. The board approved real estate investments of $20 million each...

NTGI Hires for Large-Cap Equity Team.
July 14, 2008... Northern Trust has hired George Maris as a senior VP and senior portfolio manager for Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI). Maris will work on NTGI's large-cap core strategy. "George is a new addition to the team, serving as the...

Invesco Makes Addition to Quant Team.
July 14, 2008... Andrew Waisburd has joined Invesco as a quantitative research analyst, said spokesman Bill Hensel. Based in Boston, he will be a part of Invesco Quantitative Strategies (IQS), and report to Anthony Shufflebotham, head of U.S. research for...

Odds & Ends.
July 14, 2008... * UBS Global Asset Management has named Marcel Larochelle head of the firm's Canadian business, replacing Peter Clarke, who has left the firm. Larochelle will focus on developing and expanding UBS' relationships in Canada and joins from Mercer...

BlackRock's Still Going Strong.
July 21, 2008... Against the trend of recent losses in the financial world, BlackRock reported a 23% increase for the second quarter of 2008 compared to the same time last year. The firm's reported net income for the quarter was $274 million as compared...

Knoxville Moves Toward Searches: Tennessee Plan to Seek International Equity, Portable Alpha.
July 21, 2008... The $540 million City of Knoxville Pension Board recently received education on the portable alpha and private equity asset classes and is likely to make an investment in both over the next few months, said Mike Cherry, executive director at...

Georgia County System Issues RFP.
July 21, 2008... The Chatham County Employee Retirement Plan (CCERP) is seeking an investment consultant to assist the fund with its roughly $111 million in assets. Further details were unclear, as calls to Kathleen Watson-Scott, procurement specialist...

Putnam: Absolute Return a Safe Bet: Firm's Total Return Product Outsmarts the Market.
July 21, 2008... With oil prices at record levels, the U.S. sliding into recession, banks failing and equity markets plunging as much as 20% from their last highs, it's a tough time for a fund manager to keep investors happy. Robert Schoen, Putnam...

Washington State to Freshen Pool.
July 21, 2008... The Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) has issued an RFQQ as it seeks to refresh the $82 billion plan's pool of investment consultants. The WSIB is looking for firms who provide general investment consulting services and specialty...

Chicago TPF Interviews Hedge Funds.
July 21, 2008... The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) interviewed four potential hedge fund-of-funds managers at a special board meeting last week, according to the agenda posted on the plan's site. The board were scheduled to interview Dorchester...

California Plan Continues Hiring Spree.
July 21, 2008... The San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association (SBCERA) made two more hires in its ongoing search for credit managers, said Don Pierce, investment officer with the $6 billion plan. Pierce said that the board approved...

Odds & Ends.
July 21, 2008... * San Francisco-based Progress Investment Management Company has announced that it completed a buyout in June of the 40% equity interest that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Fund (MBTARF) held in the firm, making...

Investors Move Away From Buyout Funds: Buyout funds get a cool reception in fundraising market as interest in distressed and infrastructure funds heats up.
July 21, 2008... Distressed debt funds and infrastructure funds piqued the interest of institutional investors in the second quarter, snaring capital that historically flowed towards traditional private equity funds, according to the latest data from Preqin....

SEI: Confusion and Lack of Resources Solved by Outsourcing.
July 21, 2008... There is a perfect storm of factors in the world of investing today that especially effects smaller plan sponsors: confusing new pension reform rules, unfamiliar new asset classes and asset class structures and lack of resources. John Waite, Al...