Investment Management Weekly articles from June 2008

Investment Management Weekly archives from June 2008

Bear Stearns' Buyout Gains Approval.
June 2, 2008... The shareholders of Bear Stearns approved a $2.2 billion buyout by JPMorgan Chase, a rate of approximately $10 per share. This deal is better than the $2 per share that JPMorgan Chase had originally offered almost three months ago, but not...

Oakland Plan Says No to 130/30 Equity.
June 2, 2008... At a time when most plans are jumping on the long/short equity bandwagon, the $563 million Oakland Police & Fire Retirement System (OPFRS) has decided to take a pass on the investment strategy, said Teir Jenkins, an accountant at the California...

Mazama Out At L.A. County Fund?
June 2, 2008... The fate of Mazama Capital Management was expected to be determined at an investment board meeting of the Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) last Wednesday. According to the agenda, the board considered...

Canadian Plans Head Overseas: Strengthening Euro attracts investors.
June 2, 2008... Canada is a big country-in fact, it's the second biggest country in the world in terms of landmass. But when it comes to investment opportunities, with a $1.6 trillion economy, the country is not very large at all, especially if you are a...

Illinois TRS to Add to Manager Program.
June 2, 2008... The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois(TRS) will be expanding its $500 million emerging manager program, said Eva Goltermann, spokeswoman for the $38.7 billion plan. The program, which had earlier encompassed only the...

City of Austin Fund To Create CIO Role.
June 2, 2008... The $1.7 billion City of Austin Employees' Retirement System (COAERS) will soon hire its first-ever CIO at the plan, said Stephen Edmonds, executive director at the plan. Edmonds explained that the board plans to conduct a search for the...

Belmont Seeks Private Equity Manager.
June 2, 2008... The Town of Belmont, Massachusetts Retirement System placed a $3 million secondary private equity mandate up for grabs at the plan. Further details regarding the search were unclear. Marion Cote, administrator for the $62 million system...

Pa. County Plan Narrows Search To Two.
June 2, 2008... The $80 million Northumberland County Employees' Pension Plan has named two finalists in a search for a large-cap growth domestic equity manager. According to an update posted on the Web site of Northumberland's consultant Morrison...

New Consultant For NY State Common Fund.
June 2, 2008... Consulting firm Aksia has been hired by the $154.5 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) to assist with its $5 billion absolute return portfolio. Aksia will work with the CRF for a three-year term, during which it will assist...

Garden State Adds to Manager Roster.
June 2, 2008... The New Jersey State Investment Council (NJSIC) made new commitments in private equity, real estate and hedge funds at its most recent meeting, said Tom Vincz, spokesman for the council. Documents sent to IMW by Vincz explain that the NJSIC...

Odds & Ends.
June 2, 2008... * Eric Baggesen has been named senior investment officer for global equity at the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), where he replaces Christianna Wood who left the fund in February to join Capital Z Asset Management....

Integre Advisors Adds Two to Team.
June 2, 2008... Dan McCarthy and Nels Wangensteen joined New York-based Integre Advisors as principals and portfolio managers last Tuesday, the firm announced last week. The duo joined from Neuberger Berman where they were managing directors and portfolio...

Alpha Fees for Beta Performance: Asset manager fees scrutinized.
June 2, 2008... Just as the dust is starting to settle over 401(k) fee scrutiny, new research shows performance fees paid by pension funds worldwide are up 50% compared to five years ago, reports Watson Wyatt. "This is obviously a good deal for investment...

CalSTRS Reconsiders Smoking Stocks.
June 9, 2008... The $169 billion California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) is considering adding tobacco investments back into its portfolio, a move which would end an almost-eight year ban on the industry by the plan. Sherry Reser,...

Searches in Store at Ohio BWC.
June 9, 2008... The board of the $16 billion Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) has approved nearly $7 billion in searches for U.S. equity and fixed-income managers, said Bruce Dunn, CIO at the fund. However, the timetable for when those RFPs will...

Iowa Plans Search For Consultant.
June 9, 2008... The Iowa State Treasurer's officer has launched consultant searches on behalf of the $280 million Iowa Public Safety Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident and Disability System (PORS) and the $86.5 million Iowa Judicial Retirement System (JRS)....

Risk Management Concerns Grow.
June 9, 2008... Pension executives rank risk management as a higher priority than greater returns, according to the results of a global quick poll conducted by SEI, surveying 305 executives from five countries. The poll, which was issued once before the...

Alaska Perm. Fund Revamps Allocations.
June 9, 2008... The target allocations for private equity, absolute return, infrastructure and emerging markets were recently increased at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC). A statement issued by the APFC notes that the private equity and...

W.V. Board Hits The Market for Bond Firms.
June 9, 2008... The West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments (BTI) has launched a search for a short-duration fixed-income manager. The BTI oversees the assets of the state's $3.6 billion consolidated pool. According to the RFP issued, the manager...

Equity Triple Play At Plymouth Fund.
June 9, 2008... The Plymouth Retirement System has commenced searches for managers to oversee mandates of $5 million to $6 million each in large-cap value and growth equity, as well as $10 million to $11 million in small-cap core equity. It could not be...

Alabama Fund Seeks Mid-Cap Manager.
June 9, 2008... The City of Anniston Policemen's & Firemen's Retirement Fund has placed $2 million up for grabs as it seeks to add a mid-cap core manager to its roster. Alan Atkinson, treasurer at the Alabama plan referred all questions to consultant Greg...

Pa. County Plan Doubles Up on Hedge Funds.
June 9, 2008... The Susquehanna County Retirement Fund has increased its allocation to hedge fund investments to 10%, up from the previous 5% the plan had allotted to the asset class, said Cathy Benedict, county treasurer and retirement board member. ...

Northumberland Makes Large-Cap Selection.
June 9, 2008... Fred Alger Management has been hired by the Northumberland County Employees' Pension Plan to oversee a $9 million large-cap growth domestic equity mandate, confirmed Frank Burnette, the plan's consultant with Morrison Fiduciary Advisors. ...

LACERS Eyes Real Estate Funds.
June 9, 2008... The investment committee for the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) will recommend four new real estate investments to the board at a June 24 meeting, said Christal Chacon, spokeswoman for the $11.4 billion plan. As...

Santa Fe Board Adds to Manager Roster.
June 9, 2008... The New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association (NMPERA) has hired managers for U.S. REIT accounts, said Dominic Garcia, deputy director of investments with the $13.6 billion plan. Following recommendations made by its evaluation...

Odds & Ends.
June 9, 2008... * Dr. Anthony Yun has been named president at Palo Alto Investors. He succeeds the firm's founder William Edwards, who will continue to service as chairman and CIO. Yun joined the firm in 1998 as a partner focusing on healthcare investments. He...

Look For Opportunities In The High Yield Bank Loan Market.
June 9, 2008... After an unprecedented decline in the first quarter of 2008, the bank loan sector rallied in the second quarter. Supply pressures are easing as the new issue backlog continues to shrink. On the demand side we are seeing renewed appetite for...

New Leadership at Putnam.
June 16, 2008... Effective July 1, Robert Reynolds will take the helm at Putnam Investments as its new president and CEO. He is replacing Charles "Ed" Haldeman, who will become chairman of Putnam Investment Management. Reynolds was vice chairman and chief...

New Leadership at Putnam.
June 16, 2008... Effective July 1, Robert Reynolds will take the helm at Putnam Investments as the firm's new president and CEO. He is replacing Charles "Ed" Haldeman, who will become chairman of Putnam Investment Management. Reynolds was vice chairman and...

Iowa Regents Examine Assets: Board May Approve Hedge Fund Foray.
June 16, 2008... The $1.8 billion Board of Regents for the State of Iowa is currently undergoing a review of its asset allocation, said Chief Business Officer Patrice Sayre. "This is a formal review with our financial investment advisor, Wilshire...

Ala. PACT Seeks Int'l Equity Managers.
June 16, 2008... The $702 million Alabama Prepaid College Tuition (PACT) Trust Fund is searching for international core or growth equity managers. According to the RFP, which was issued by the Office of the Alabama State Treasurer, the PACT fund is...

Seix Advisors Bullish on Bank Loans.
June 16, 2008... "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" might be sound advice when it comes to maintaining friendships, but Bob Sherman, CEO of Seix Investment Advisors, is making plenty of friends among investors with his bank loan investing strategy, which...

Tennessee Plan Seeks Emerging Markets.
June 16, 2008... The $35 million City of Franklin Employees' Pension Fund is looking to hire an emerging markets equity manager to oversee a $1.5 million mandate. According to the RFP issued by the Tennessee plan, it will consider both active and passive...

Gotham City Plans Hunt for Bond Firms.
June 16, 2008... The City of New York Office of the Comptroller has issued an RFP for U.S. fixed-income managers on behalf of the New York City Retirement Systems (NYCRS)which covers the employees', teachers', police, fire and board of education plans. The...

More Real Estate In Boston's Future.
June 16, 2008... The $4.3 billion Boston Retirement System is looking to invest up to $50 million in real estate funds. The RFP indicates that the $50 million would be split evenly among core-plus, value-added and opportunistic, sector focused, secondaries...

Brockton Kicks Off Consultant Search.
June 16, 2008... The City of Brockton Retirement System has launched a search for an investment consultant as the contract of incumbent Evaluation Associates (EAI) is due to expire. Harold Hanna, administrator at the Massachusetts plan explained that the...

Swampscott Seeks INVESCO Replacement.
June 16, 2008... In a move that could remove INVESCO from its roster, the Swampscott Retirement System is searching for an international core equity manager to oversee roughly $5.5 million, confirmed Richard DiPesa, the executive director with the $31.2 million...

Do-Over for Taunton's Int'l Equity Search.
June 16, 2008... It's the second time around for the Taunton Retirement System as the plan has reissued an RFP for an international core equity mandate with emerging markets exposure, confirmed Paul Slivinski, executive director with the $190 million plan. ...

Weymouth R.S. Issues RFP Trifecta.
June 16, 2008... The Weymouth Retirement System is searching for three managers to oversee equity portfolios, said plan administrator Marsha Silva. Weymouth issued RFPs for a large-cap growth manager to oversee approximately $12 million, an international...

Fund-of-Funds Search On At Essex.
June 16, 2008... A hedge-fund-of-funds manager is being sought by the Essex Regional Retirement System, according to an RFP issued by the plan. The hired manager would oversee approximately $13.5 million. Lilli Gilligan, chief operating officer at the...

City of Baltimore Hires JPMorgan For Real Estate.
June 16, 2008... The Baltimore Employees' Retirement System recently made an additional $5 million commitment to real estate. The funds will be invested in JPMorgan's Urban Renaissance Property Fund. According to the agenda for city of Baltimore's June 11...

Odds & Ends.
June 16, 2008... *William Yun has been named executive VP of alternatives strategies at Franklin Resources, where he will be responsible for the firm's local asset management businesses, joint ventures, real estate, fund-of-funds and private equity. *...

FBI Makes Subprime Arrests.
June 23, 2008... Former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin were arrested and taken to a Brooklyn Federal court last week. The charges are the first to come out of federal investigations of possible fraud on the part of banks and...

Knoxville Creates New Allocations.
June 23, 2008... As first reported on imweekly.com (6/18/08), the $540 million City of Knoxville Pension Board will meet with consultant Dan Holmes of Summit Strategies next month to discuss ways to implement recently approved allocations, said Mike Cherry,...

W.V. College Program Seeks Advisor.
June 23, 2008... The West Virginia College Prepaid Tuition & College Savings Program is searching for a new investment consultant to help assist the board with its $1.1 billion portfolio. The RFP-which was issued by West Virginia State Treasurer's Office...

FGA Pushes Non-U.S. Equity Fund.
June 23, 2008... Franklin Global Advisers (FGA) is so proud of the performance record of its institutional non-U.S. equity strategy, which it has been running for years, that the manager decided to start offering the strategy to individual investors. The new...

Tampa Fund To Seek Consultant.
June 23, 2008... The $617 million City of Tampa General Employees' Retirement Fund is gearing up to issue an investment consulting RFP, Paul Broughton, plan coordinator, told IMW last week. "We're doing the search since one has not been formally done in a...

Florida City Launches Equity Search.
June 23, 2008... The $15.5 million Cooper City Police Officers' Pension Fund has issued an RFP for a $1.5 million small-cap core equity mandate. Joan Wall, administrator of the Florida plan, referred all questions regarding the search to the plan's...

LACERA Kicks Off Smid-Cap Search.
June 23, 2008... The Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association (LACERA) is looking to make new hires in the active domestic smid-cap core equity arena, said Lisa Mazzocco, CIO with the $42 billion plan. She added that the search comes as a result...

Large-Cap on The Way for Watertown R.S.
June 23, 2008... The Watertown Retirement System has placed $16 million up for grabs to be managed in a large-cap core equity strategy. Barbara Sheehan, administrator of the Massachusetts fund, referred all questions to Carol Tam, the plan's consultant with...

Marin Looks At Private Equity, Real Estate.
June 23, 2008... The investment committee of the Marin County Employees' Retirement Association (MCERA) discussed the possible issuance of an RFI for a private equity fund gatekeeper at its meeting earlier this month. The committee is interested in a...

Morgan Stanley, AEW in at Orange County.
June 23, 2008... The Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) has selected AEW Capital Management and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Advisors to oversee $25 million each in real estate core open-end commingled funds, confirmed Robert Kinsler, spokesman for...

Arkansas Approves New Investments.
June 23, 2008... The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) made new investments in private equity and real estate investments at a meeting earlier this month. According to published reports, the board approved a $50 million private equity commitment in...

New Mexico ERB Hires for Alternatives.
June 23, 2008... New investments in infrastructure, real estate and private equity recently received the green light at the $9.4 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB), said Bob Jacksha, CIO at the Sante Fe plan. He noted that the board...

Odds & Ends.
June 23, 2008... *BlackRock has hired Curtis Arledge as managing director and co-head of U.S. fixed-income in its bond portfolio management group. In this position, Arledge replaces Andrew Philips, who was promoted to the position of global chief operating...

Big Apple Funds In the Red.
June 30, 2008... New York City's five pension funds lost a total of $5 billion in the nine months leading up to March 31, according to a report released by the New York City Comptroller's office. It is predicted that if the plans do not recoup the losses by...

Ann Arbor to Go the Alternative Route.
June 30, 2008... After much back and forth on the issue, the $413 million Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System will be allocating up to 10% of its total portfolio to alternative investments. According to recently released minutes of its May meeting, the...

KPMG Study Looks at Credit Crisis: Findings show wariness among institutional investors.
June 30, 2008... The collapse of credit markets over the past year, the embarrassing performance of the big three rating agencies, not to mention the pain suffered by many institutional investors as markets have tumbled, have combined to create a crisis of...

Large Plans Post Losses for 1Q08.
June 30, 2008... Pension funds experienced a reversal of gains in the first quarter of 2008 because of volatility in the equity markets and falling interest rates. Yet if the losses are not recouped by the end of the year, experts said, then plan sponsors...

Luzerne Seeks Consultant, Custodian.
June 30, 2008... The roughly $200 million Luzerne County Employees' Retirement & Trust has issued an RFP for a firm to provide investment advisory and custodial services. Proposals for the mandate are due Aug. 15. The fund currently uses Merrill Lynch...

Norwood RS Hunts For Equity Manager.
June 30, 2008... The Town of Norwood Contributory Retirement System is looking to hire a large-cap growth domestic equity manager to oversee roughly $10 million. Debra Lorenzo, administrator at the Massachusetts plan, referred all questions regarding the...

Berks County Ousts Large-Cap Firm.
June 30, 2008... The $240 million Berks County Employees' Retirement Fund has removed Rigel Capital from a large-cap mandate at the plan, according to minutes from a May meeting recently posted on the Pennsylvania plan's Web site. Rigel was hired by the...

Abbott Picked By Baltimore Employee Plan.
June 30, 2008... Private equity manager Abbott Capital Management has been hired by the $1.4 billion Baltimore Employees' Retirement System. The firm will receive a $40 million commitment to be invested in the Abbott Capital Private Equity Fund VI. An...

Bayou Cop Fund Interviews Finalists.
June 30, 2008... The board of the Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System (LAMPERS) interviewed finalists in its searches for international small-cap equity, international emerging markets, and domestic large-cap value equity managers, according...

Jersey State Adds To Alternatives.
June 30, 2008... The New Jersey State Investment Council (NJSIC) has added four new investments to its alternative portfolio, confirmed Tom Bell, spokesman with the state's department of the treasury. The council approved a $75 million hedge fund investment...

Odds & Ends.
June 30, 2008... * Hedge Fund manager Chilton Investment Company has hired Francie Heller as managing director of client relations. In this role she will be responsible for providing investment solutions and support to CIOs and other leaders at large corporate...

New Executive Director for Ohio Teachers.
June 30, 2008... Michael Nehf has been named the new executive director for the $79.6 billion State Teachers' Retirement System of Ohio (STRS), effective today. Nehf, who currently serves as executive director of the $15.2 billion Employees' Retirement...

New CIO in Place At St. Louis University.
June 30, 2008... Gary Whitworth has been named CIO and treasurer at St. Louis University (SLU), effective July 1. Jeff Fowler, a spokesman for SLU, said that Whitworth is replacing Bryan Pini, who is now the CIO at the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy of...