Investment Management Weekly articles from March 2005

Investment Management Weekly archives from March 2005

AFL-CIO Gets In On DB Fight.
March 7, 2005... California State Treasurer Phil Angelides has asked the AFL-CIO to mobilize against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to replace the state's public defined benefit retirement plans with defined contribution plans, said Dan Newman,...

Okla. Teachers' Launch International Search.
March 7, 2005... The $7.4 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma has launched a search for a manager to oversee between $100-150 million in an all-cap international equity account, with a core/growth bias, as first reported on IMW's Web site,...

NCPERS Testifies on Calif. Pension Proposal.
March 7, 2005... Fred Nesbitt, executive director of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), testified late last month before the California State Budget Subcommittee on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to...

OMERS Plots Non-Canadian Investment Increase.
March 7, 2005... The $35.7 billion Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System will likely increase its allocation to non-Canadian investments, a move that will be facilitated by the Canadian government's removal of a cap on foreign investments for pension...

OPERS Launches Hedge Fund Foray.
March 7, 2005... The $64.5 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has issued an RFP for hedge fund managers to oversee fund-of-funds or multi-strategy portfolios, spokesman Rich Baker confirmed last week. The board is looking to hire...

Sanford Seeks Replacement For Fox.
March 7, 2005... The $20 million City of Sanford Police Officers' Pension Fund is searching for a large-cap equity investment manager to oversee $4 million. Previously, Fox Asset Management, whose majority owner is Eaton Vance, managed the funds until the...

Va. Plan Seeks Large-Cap Value Manager.
March 7, 2005... The $686 million City of Newport News Employees' Retirement System has issued an RFP for a large-cap value equity manager to oversee approximately $46 million, according to a document obtained by IMW. Search details could not be...

Endowment Approves Hedge Fund Program.
March 7, 2005... The Endowment Fund Investment Board of Idaho has approved a pilot program to begin investing in hedge fund-of-funds and collateralized debt, said Matthew Haertzen, manager of investments for the $750 million plan. The board first raised...

San Joaquin Hires Mondrian.
March 7, 2005... The San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association has hired Mondrian Investment Partners to manage a $30 million emerging markets mandate, said Robert Palmer, administrator of the plan. Other finalists in the search were...

San Fran Seeks New Investment Officer.
March 7, 2005... The $13 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System has begun a search for a new senior investment officer, said David Kushner, the fund's deputy director for investments. The search would be to replace Carl Wilberg,...

Hampshire County Eyes Consultant.
March 7, 2005... The $120 million Hampshire County Retirement Board is seeking a pension investment consultant. Mary Baronas, administrator of the Northampton, Mass.-based plan, was out of the office and unavailable for comment. According to Nelson's...

L.A. Bravest, Finest To Hire TIPS Managers.
March 7, 2005... The $11.5 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System is in the midst of hiring up to two manages to oversee the plan's $500 million treasury-inflation protected securities account, said Tom Lopez, plan CIO. Lopez declined to name...

CFOs Worry About Pension Funding Hydra Effect.
March 7, 2005... CFOs are growing increasingly worried about not only the funding status of their defined benefit plans, but the impact of pension funding on corporate finances, according to IMW sister publication, Employee Benefit News. The 2nd Annual CFO...

Advisor Closes Registered Hedge Funds.
March 7, 2005... In a move that may indicate investment advisors are rethinking their footing within the registered hedge funds-of-funds marketplace, Aspen Strategic Alliances (ASA) of Atlanta, advisor to four hedge funds-of-funds that commenced operations less...

Another One Bites the Dust.
March 7, 2005... KL Financial Group, a Palm Beach, Fla.-based hedge fund with over $200 million in assets, has closed after informing investors it lost funds due to trading losses. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department have been...

Consulting Pro Chats About the Business.
March 7, 2005... To read Dick Zaccaro's resume, one would think that he has lived several lifetimes, or at least held every position in investment management imaginable. Starting out as a director of cash management at the Massachusetts State Treasurer's...

Odds & Ends.
March 7, 2005... *The Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL) has opposed a bill that would create a 17-member board to govern both TRSL and the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System. Louisiana State Senator Walter Boasso created the bill stating...

Putnam Under Fire Once Again.
March 14, 2005... Boston-based Putnam Investments continues to experience fallout and aftershocks from investigations of illegal contracting at parent company Marsh & McLennan Cos. Last week, Putnam announced that the SEC was investigating potential...

L.A. Fire & Police To Consider REIT Investments.
March 14, 2005... The $11.5 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System could potentially launch a search for REIT managers in the near future, if the board approves a recommendation for the new asset class, said Tom Lopez, fund CIO. "We do not have...

Massachusetts Fund Hunts for Small-Cap Manager.
March 14, 2005... The Quincy Contributory Retirement System is searching for a manager to oversee a small-cap core equity account, according to the RFP. Calls to the plan's Executive Director Edward Masterson and Marina Simanovich, an investment analyst...

AFL-CIO Pressures Social Security Reform.
March 14, 2005... The national office of the AFL-CIO has persuaded money manager Waddell & Reed to join Edward Jones in withdrawing from a lobby group that supports President Bush's proposal to reform Social Security through private accounts, and now the...

Connecticut Fund Issues Int'l RFP.
March 14, 2005... The $18 million Waterbury Retirement Board is searching for an international equity manager to handle $3.8 million of the fund's assets. According to a document obtained by IMW, the portfolio will be benchmarked against the MSCI EAFE and...

Industry Vets Launch Consulting Venture.
March 14, 2005... Jeffrey Boucek, former managing director at Trusco Capital, has partnered with industry veteran Thomas Pipich, to form Pipich Boucek Partners. The duo first met in the 1980's while working at Mercer Investment Consulting. The firm will...

Lexington Searches for Mid-Cap Manager.
March 14, 2005... The $83 million Lexington Retirement System has launched a search for a domestic equity manager to oversee a $10 million mid-cap portfolio. Calls placed to John Ryan, controller of the Mass.-based fund were not returned by press time. Eric...

New Jersey Warns About Rising Costs.
March 14, 2005... Acting New Jersey Governor Richard Codey vowed that he would not approve any increase in public retirement benefits unless they are funded, during a presentation to legislators on the State's pension fund, last week. Codey also promised...

Indianapolis Hires New Director.
March 14, 2005... The $11 billion Indianapolis Employees' Retirement Fund has named David Adams as its new executive director, said plan spokesman Patrick Lane. Adams, who was most recently a managing partner at real estate firm Estate Ventures, replaces...

Northern Trust Expands Sales Force.
March 14, 2005... Daniel Strumphler, most recently a senior VP at ABN AMRO responsible for sales and marketing, has been named director of institutional sales for the Northern Trust Global Investments. Strumphler is responsible for sales coverage of the...

Stage is Set for DB Plan Rule Changes.
March 14, 2005... Defined benefit plan sponsors will confront tougher funding rules, higher pension insurance premiums and tighter disclosure requirements if rules proposed by the Bush administration become law, according to IMW sister publication, Employee...

Oregon State Treasurer Talks Investments, Corporate Governance.
March 14, 2005... The $47 billion Oregon Public Employees' Retirement Fund outperformed its benchmarks in every asset category in 2004 and returned a total 14.47%, said Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards. "We have been disciplined in rebalancing and...

Hitchens: Investment Treasures to be Found in the Attic of the US.
March 14, 2005... Institutional investors may be missing the boat when it comes to investing in Canada. So contends Barry Hitchens, CEO of Vancouver, B.C.-based consultant to tax-exempt trusts, BH Capital Consulting Ltd. But the region-known for its...

Odds & Ends.
March 14, 2005... *GoldenTree Asset Management has announced its plans to exit the long only separate accounts business. Officials at the firm felt that they could offer the best value to its clients by being total return managers and has recently launched two...

Mellon to Sell Consulting Unit.
March 21, 2005... Mellon Financial Corp., will sell off its consulting division, Mellon Human Resources & Investor Solutions, to avoid the costs of upgrading the technology needed to compete and focus on the industry. Dallas-based information technology...

Michigan Plan to Search For Fixed-Income.
March 21, 2005... The $1.2 billion Wayne County Employees' Retirement System is gearing up to launch a "limited" fixed-income manager search. Deputy Retirement Director Richard Noelke, confirmed the pending search, but said the board had yet to decide on...

Oakland To Seek Small-Cap Manager.
March 21, 2005... The $615 million Oakland Police & Fire Retirement System will discuss launching a small-cap manager search at its March 30 meeting, said Angela Joyner, agency administrative manager. She declined to speculate on the size of the potential...

Canada Teachers' Plan Poised for Change.
March 21, 2005... A newly revamped asset allocation may lead the C$54.3 billion Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to explore international investments in new regions and increase its allocation to alternative investments, said Lee Fullerton, plan spokeswoman. ...

Texas Muni Plots Manager Searches.
March 21, 2005... The $85 million Irving Firemen's Relief and Retirement Fund will begin a search for a manager to oversee its first allocation to real estate and will initiate a full review of the plan's equity portfolio, a move that David Leininger, CIO, said...

MHFA Searches for Small-Cap Manager.
March 21, 2005... The $50 million Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency Retirement System has launched a search for a domestic equity manager, IMW learned last week. According to the RFP, the selected manager will oversee $3 million to $5 million in a...

Bay City Retirees Sue Pension Fund Board.
March 21, 2005... About one dozen retirees, who have formed the Bay City Police and Fire Retirees Association, have initiated a lawsuit against the board of the Bay City Policemen and Firemen Retirement System and Asset Strategies Portfolio Services, the...

Ohio SERS Issues Currency Overlay RFI.
March 21, 2005... The $8 billion School Employees' Retirement System of Ohio has issued a request for information for active currency overlay managers. Julie Graham-Price, plan spokeswoman, explained the fund will hire two managers and two backup managers....

Illinois Plan Selects Consultant Finalists.
March 21, 2005... The $13 billion State Universities Retirement System of Illinois has selected finalists for its consultant search, a move that could potentially replace Ennis Knupp + Associates, the plan's consultant of 23 years. Executive Director James...

Tulare County Hires For Alternatives.
March 21, 2005... The $825 million Tulare County Employees Retirement Association has hired managers for its first allocations to hedge funds and private equity, said Dave Kehler, retirement administrator. Quellos Capital Management and Pantheon Ventures...

Mesirow Snags Fixed-Income Bunch.
March 21, 2005... Mesirow Financial Investment Management has beefed up its fixed-income shop with four additions to its Chicago-based unit, Katie Schimmel, a spokeswoman for the firm said last week. "We already had fixed-income capabilities," Schimmel...

Money Manager Seeks Marketing Pro.
March 21, 2005... Patterson Capital Corporation is looking to add an institutional marketing and client services executive to its staff. The selected individual will be responsible for seeking out potential institutional consulting and plan sponsor clients...

OPERS Launches High Yield Replacement Search: Fund Says Current Manager to Exit Industry.
March 21, 2005... The $64.5 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has issued an RFI for a fixed-income high yield manager to replace an incumbent on the fund's roster, Rich Baker said last week. He declined to identify the manager,...

Wilshire: Financial Outlook For State Plans Improve.
March 21, 2005... The financial condition of state retirement systems in the U.S. improved during the last year, according to a recently issued report by Wilshire Associates. "Plans on average are underfunded, but they earned more on assets and the...

Minnesota Fund Seeks Annual Benefit Caps.
March 21, 2005... The $18.4 billion Minnesota Post Retirement Investment Fund is attempting to legislate a 5% cap in benefit increases, according to John Wicklund, assistant executive director of administrative services at the Teachers' Retirement System of...

Fidelity Forges Institutional Unit to Serve Trusts: Ned Johnson Oversees Unit While Team is Assembled.
March 21, 2005... Fidelity Investments is starting up a new entity to serve institutional clients and other non-mutual fund businesses. The company has not yet announced a name or management team for the new business, however. "These anticipated non-mutual...

Putnam Reaches Out To Clients.
March 21, 2005... Putnam Investments has recently summarized its review of the firm's achievements in 2004 and its preview for 2005 in a four-page information document for institutional clients, prospects and consultants. The communication is a first for the...

Odds & Ends.
March 21, 2005... *CalPERS announced plans to adopt reforms to advocate majority vote election procedures for corporate directors last week. Going forward, CalPERS will aim to implement majority policies at individual companies through company bylaw and charter...

Vt. Pension Plans to Remain Separate.
March 28, 2005... Plans to consolidate the three major pension funds within the state of Vermont have come to a screeching halt. Vermont Governor James Douglas vetoed a bill that would have combined the Vermont State Employees' Retirement System, the...

AMR Corp. Seeks International Value Managers.
March 28, 2005... The $3.5 billion Pilot Benefit Plan of AMR Corp.-the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle-is gearing up to launch a search for an international value equity manager, said William Quinn, president of AMR subsidiary, AMR...

San Diego City Preps for Manager Search.
March 28, 2005... The $3.6 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System is gearing up to launch a search in the coming months that could potentially replace an incumbent manager. Paul Barnett, assistant retirement administrator, said that the board...

L.A. Police & Fire To Launch Alternative Search.
March 28, 2005... The $11.5 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System will launch a fund-of-funds hedge fund search in the second half of this year, said Tom Lopez, plan CIO. The mandate size of the upcoming search is yet to be decided, but funding would...

NY State Teachers Cut Int'l Equity Managers.
March 28, 2005... The $79 billion New York State Teachers Retirement System, has severed ties with four of its international equity managers for organizational and performance issues and has reallocated the funds to other incumbent managers under contract with...

PSERS Changes Managers, Allocations.
March 28, 2005... The $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System terminated two managers during a March 18 board meeting. The fund decided to reduce its exposure to high yield fixed-income securities, a decision that resulted in the...

S. C. Plan May Revamp Investment Policies.
March 28, 2005... Investment decisions made for the $25 billion South Carolina Retirement System could soon change hands pending the approval of a state Senate proposal, which would remove the oversight of the fund's assets from the contol of an elected board to...

Texas Fund Hires for Emerging Managers.
March 28, 2005... The $1.4 billion San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund may have hired Fiduciary Investment Solutions to oversee a roughly $62 million emerging manager-of-managers portfolio, according to the agenda of the plan's March 8 investment committee...

Putnam Vet Joins Columbia.
March 28, 2005... Stephen Peacher, head of high yield investments at Putnam Investments, has left the firm to lead the taxable fixed-income team at Columbia Management, Jon Goldstein, spokesman for Columbia confirmed last week. Peacher had been with Putnam since...

Northern Trust Bulks Up Team.
March 28, 2005... Northern Trust Global Advisors named its first-ever chief operating officer last week. Joseph McInerney, most recently a senior product manager for alternative assets, was appointed to the newly created position to oversee the firm's...

Ore. Plans Suffer Loss, Find Insurance Gap.
March 28, 2005... Three pension funds in Oregon have filed a lawsuit against their insurers and brokers for almost $4 million, claiming they were misled to purchase employee crime insurance that was not compliant with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act....

Brown Brothers Harriman Director Warns of Economic Slowdown.
March 28, 2005... An imminent economic slowdown is likely during the second quarter, said Charles Blood, financial markets strategist and director of Brown Brothers Harriman's strategy research, during a March 23 conference call to the firm's clients. Such...

Experts: Industry Needs 10 Years to Reclaim its Reputation.
March 28, 2005... Dov Seidman, chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles-based corporate governance and ethics consulting company LRN, called the recent resignation of Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher nothing short of remarkable. "No one can point to a law, rule or...

Fund Gains High Returns, Maintains Low Risk.
March 28, 2005... Between January 1998 and December 31, 2004, Paragon Capital Manage- ment's Top Flight Portfolio gained 292.53% while the S&P 500 increased 36.7%. Many assume that high investment returns indicate high risks, but this growth-oriented fund...

Odds & Ends.
March 28, 2005... *Over 80% of hedge fund market participants surveyed at the recent GAIM USA conference predicted that returns for the industry would hold steady or increase in 2005. More than one-third of the group predicted that these returns would exceed...

Correction/Clarification.(Correction Notice)
March 28, 2005... The article "Canada Teachers' Plan Poised for Change" that appeared in the 3/21 issue of IMW incorrectly states the fund's size. The fund has C$84.3 billion in assets.