Investment Management Weekly articles from March 2007

Investment Management Weekly archives from March 2007

General Electric Considers Asian Hedge Funds.
March 5, 2007... The $53 billion pension fund for General Electric (GE) could soon invest in Asian hedge funds and convertible arbitrage. Reportedly, GE is considering a $100 million allocation to Asian hedge funds. Several routes are being considered for...

Mass. Plan Launches Manager Search.
March 5, 2007... The $600 million Plymouth County Retirement Association is searching for a domestic equity manager to add to its stable. William Farmer, administrator at the plan, said the search is being conducted to potentially replace Columbia...

Pension Funds React to Laws of the Land: Survey Finds Regulatory Guidelines Affecting Allocations.
March 5, 2007... Fueled by the regulatory and accounting changes seen in 2006, plan sponsors will be making drastic changes to their investment strategies to help meet pension obligations, according to the findings of a survey conducted by money manager Pyramis...

Clear Skies for REITs in 2007?
March 5, 2007... Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been going strong and will continue their good run throughout the year, said Robert Promisel, principal with Adelante Capital Management. At the "Winter 2007 Market Outlook & Investment Press...

Overland Park Cops Issues Large-Cap RFP.
March 5, 2007... The $43 million Overland Park Police Department Retirement Plan has launched a search for a large-cap growth equity manager. According to the RFP, the hired firm will oversee a $5 to $8 million portfolio. Funding for the mandate will come...

Brookline Issues Small-Cap Core RFP.
March 5, 2007... The $216 million Town of Brookline Contributory Retirement System has issued an RFP for a small-cap core equity manager to oversee a mandate of between $8 and $18 million. Questions regarding the search were directed to Aneish Arora, the...

CalSTRS Seeks Alts. Consultant.
March 5, 2007... The $157.9 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has issued an RFP for an alternative investment consultant, which could potentially replace incumbent McKinsey & Co. McKinsey & Co. has worked with CalSTRS for five...

Berks County Switches Consultant.
March 5, 2007... The Berks County Employees' Retirement Fund has hired Peirce Park Group as its consultant, confirmed Nelson Long, treasurer at the fund. The firm is replacing Smith Barney Consulting Group. When the Pennsylvania fund launched the search...

Alaska Fund May Invest In Infrastructure.
March 5, 2007... The board of the $38 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation was scheduled to discuss a possible allocation and search in infrastructure at its Feb. 28 to March 1 meeting, said Laura Achee, spokeswoman for the plan. "We are looking for...

Hunt for New CIO on at Iowa PERS.
March 5, 2007... The search is on for a new CIO at the $22 billion Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS), csaid Melinda Prince, an executive assistant with the plan. The position is open following the retirement of Kathy Comito, who worked with...

COPERA Appoints Alternatives Pro.
March 5, 2007... Tim Moore has been tapped to run the Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association's (COPERA) $2.88 billion alternative investments portfolio. Moore is an internal appointment. He joined the retirement plan's alternative investment...

Canada Muni Fills CEO Slot.
March 5, 2007... The $48 billion Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System (OMERS) has named Michael Nobrega CEO of the fund, effective March 12. He will replace Paul Haggis who announced his resignation earlier this month (See IMW, 2/12/07). Haggis...

Odds & Ends.
March 5, 2007... *Gary Potter and Robert Burdett, co-directors and founders of Credit Suisse's multi-manager division, have left the firm. They will be replaced by portfolio managers on an interim basis until permanent replacements are named. *Barclays...

Oklahoma May Bail Out Teachers' Fund.
March 5, 2007... The $7.8 billion Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma (TRS) could soon receive aid from the state in improving its level of funding, which is currently at 49%. Two bills have been approved by Senate committees that would pump more money...

Absolute Return Funds Could be the Answer to a Recession.
March 5, 2007... Last week, former U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan warned attendees at a business conference in Hong Kong that the American economy could slip into a recession by year-end. The next day, the U.S equity markets saw its worst...

Morgan Stanley Starts New Division.
March 12, 2007... Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has created a new unit called the Direct Investments Group, according to published reports. The new division will consists of the firm's real estate, infrastructure and new private equity funds....

LA Water & Power Watches Bond Manager?
March 12, 2007... The $6 billion Los Angeles Water and Power Retirement Plan was expected to discuss placing one of its fixed-income managers on watch at last week's board meeting. According to the agenda posted on the plan's Web site, Wells Capital...

Pennsylvania Plan Looks to Clean House.
March 12, 2007... The $97.5 million Butler County Pension Fund could revamp its entire manager roster. Reportedly, the Pennsylvania plan will discuss terminating its four asset managers for failure to meet their benchmarks at a March 30 meeting. On the...

Rhode Island ERS Cuts Ties with Shenkman.
March 12, 2007... The $7.9 billion Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island has terminated Shenkman Capital Management from a $135 million high yield account, confirmed Peter Kerwin, spokesman for the Rhode Island Office of the General Treasurer. Kerwin...

Alaska Perm. Fund OKs Infrastructure.
March 12, 2007... The $38 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation approved a search for a manager or managers of infrastructure at its Feb. 28 to March 1 board meeting. The board, which had been considering an allocation to the asset class, heard a...

Mississippi Launches Duo Searches.
March 12, 2007... The $20.5 billion Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi has issued RFIs for two separate consultants to assist with traditional and alternative investments. According to the plan's Web site, Callan Associates is the current...

U. of Minnesota Eyes More Alternatives.
March 12, 2007... The Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota considered new alternative investments for the school's $1 billion fund at its recent Finance & Operations Committee meetings. According to the Regents' Web site, at the last two committee...

WSIB Considers New Investments.
March 12, 2007... The $76.3 billion Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) discussed new investments in private equity and real estate at its board meeting last month. According to the agenda, WSIB considered recommendations from its private markets...

Odds & Ends.
March 12, 2007... *Six Ohio pension funds have reached a $144 million settlement in a securities fraud lawsuit filed against AOL Time Warner. The State Teachers' Fund will receive $66.5 million, the Public Employees' Fund will receive $62.3 million, the Bureau...

Iowa Regents Stick With Wilshire.
March 12, 2007... The $400 million Board of Regents of the State of Iowa has wrapped up its search for an investment advisor. According to documents on the plan's Web site, the investment committee decided to retain Wilshire Associates. The search began...

CalPERS Selects Real Estate Consultants.
March 12, 2007... The $236.6 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has selected eight firms in its search for real estate pension consultants to refresh a spring-fed special projects pool, said Clark McKinley, spokesman with the...

The Long and Short of It: Two years removed from an uncertain future, ForstmannLeff looks to prosper by marrying long and short strategies.
March 12, 2007... Last July, after 37 years at General Electric, John Myers decided it was time to retire as president and CEO of GE Asset Management, one of the largest U.S. institutional managers. His idea of retirement, however, did not include long strolls...

Hedge Funds Must Maintain Oversight, Set Standards When Outsourcing.
March 12, 2007... Hedge fund advisors that believe registration has benefits are quickly learning compliance brings plenty of headaches, too, according to Money Management Executive, IMW's sister publication. And while for a small shop, outsourcing tasks,...

Correction.(Correction notice)
March 12, 2007... The Feb. 26 issue of IMW incorrectly stated that the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund has been below 90% funded since 2001 due to poor market returns. The plan has been over 90% funded on a market basis since 2003 and has been more than 90%...

CalPERS Publishes Focus List.
March 19, 2007... The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has issued its annual focus list, naming companies who specialize in pills, paper and pound cake among its top underperformers. Sara Lee, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the...

New Mexico PERA Puts Manager on Watch.
March 19, 2007... In an odd twist of events, the investment committee of the $11.5 billion New Mexico Public Employees' Retirement Association (NMPERA) approved a contract extension for a manager who was also recently placed on the plan's watch list, said Robert...

Ohio Public ERS Hunts for Currency Managers.
March 19, 2007... The $77.6 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) has launched a search for an active currency investment manager. According to the RFP, OPERS is looking to place a maximum of $100 million with up to four managers. The...

Alameda County to Launch Quant Search?
March 19, 2007... The $6 billion Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association (ACERA) could soon add a quantitative manager to its roster of international equity managers, according to a new emerging manager investment policy adopted by its board. ...

Connecticut Plan Issues Two RFPs.
March 19, 2007... The $119 million Town of Stratford Pension Fund has issued RFPs for managers to oversee mandates in international equity and timber. According to a posting on Dahab Associates' Web site-the pension fund's consultant-the international equity...

San Diego Narrows Consultant Search.
March 19, 2007... The $4.7 billion San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) was scheduled to interview three finalists in its search for a new general investment consultant at its March 15 board meeting. According to the meeting's agenda, the...

Pa. Public School ERS Considers Investments.
March 19, 2007... The $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) was expected to consider numerous investments at its March 15 meeting, according to the plan's Web site. Up for discussion was a fixed-income investment with...

Pa. SERS Makes Private Equity Hires.
March 19, 2007... The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) recently approved $180 million worth of new commitments to four private equity managers. At a March 14 meeting, the $30 billion pension plan approved plans to invest up to $40...

CalPERS Hires Three For Absolute Return.
March 19, 2007... The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has selected three firms for its risk managed absolute return strategies program, said Clark McKinley, spokesman for the plan. The investment committee selected Pacific...

Real Estate Pro Joins Tishman Speyer.
March 19, 2007... Real estate firm Tishman Speyer has hired Joe Russo as a manager director in its Equity Capital Markets Group. Based in New York, he will work extensively with U.S. institutional investors, in addition to private investors. "As a...

Perella Weinberg Hires for New Group.
March 19, 2007... Perella Weinberg Partners recently named three new partners, coinciding with the announcement that it is adding new strategic capabilities to its asset management business. According to a statement issued by the firm, Bob Boldt, Larry...

WSIB Looks To Beef Up Investment Staff.
March 19, 2007... The $76.3 billion Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) is hunting for a firm to provide investment professional recruitment services. According to the RFP, the WSIB wants to engage by contract, professional recruitment services to...

Falmouth Seeks New Administrator.
March 19, 2007... The $75 million Falmouth Contributory Retirement System is looking for a new administrator to oversee the day to day operations of the plan. Ellen Philbin has served as administrator since 2005. The reason for Philbin's departure is...

Odds & Ends.
March 19, 2007... *American Century Investments has promoted Jon Zindel to CFO, where he replaces Jonathan Thomas. Thomas has become the firm's president and CEO. *Douglas Baran has been appointed senior VP of public fund sales with Brandywine Global...

Asset Firms' Tech Spending on the Rise: Products, Profits Join Compliance as Catalysts.
March 19, 2007... As technology continues to morph from a businesses support tool to a business development driver, it is also a bigger piece of investment companies' budgets, according to Money Management Executive, IMW's sister publication. In a recent...

Canada to Expand Investment Horizons.
March 26, 2007... An MFC Global Investment Management survey has found that Canadian pension plans are looking to increase their U.S. and international equity allocations over the next few years now that the country's government has lifted caps previously placed...

Fresno County Places TCW on Watch.
March 26, 2007... The $2.8 billion Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) has placed the Trust Company of the West (TCW) on watch for a $104 million portfolio, according to the plan's Web site. Roberto Pena, administrator at the California...

Moves Toward Private Equity Foray: City of Knoxville Terminates Manager.
March 26, 2007... The $480 million City of Knoxville Pension Board has axed Cortina Asset Management from its roster due to a Securities and Exchange C ommission investigation being conducted of its founder and former CEO Joseph Frohna, Michael Cherry, executive...

Spotting an Opportunity: Trying to catch a bottom, Fortress heads a pack of hedge funds that have opportunistically moved deeper into subprime.
March 26, 2007... Newcastle Investment, a real estate investment trust (REIT) managed by hedge fund Fortress Investment Group, agreed last week to buy a $1.7 billion portfolio of approximately 7,300 subprime mortgages, despite the current turmoil the sector is...

Bayou Fund Severs Ties With DuPont.
March 26, 2007... The $980 million Louisiana Firefighters' Retirement System terminated DuPont Capital Manage-ment at its February board meeting, according to the fund's Web site. Nelson's MarketPlaceWeb.com indicates that the manager oversees a mid-cap...

Ann Arbor Terminates Mid-Cap Manager.
March 26, 2007... The board of the $440 million City of Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System voted to terminate Oppenheimer Capital from its mid-cap value equity account, according to the minutes from the plan's February board meeting. Oppenheimer was...

San Joaquin Seeks Two for Large-Cap.
March 26, 2007... The $2.1 billion San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association (SJCERA) is gearing up to issue two RFIs for large-cap equity managers, Robert Palmer, the California plan's administrator, told IMW. Palmer noted that the...

Maryland Plan Eyes Private Real Estate.
March 26, 2007... The $481 million Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission Employees' Retirement System has issued an RFP for a private real estate fund manager to oversee a $30 million mandate. Further details regarding the search could not...

CalPERS Moves Ahead With New Program.
March 26, 2007... The $232 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has issued an RFP for a pool of investment firms for its emerging manager fund-of-funds program. This move follows the selection of three advisors for the...

Charlottesville Hunts For Timber Manager.
March 26, 2007... The $81 million City of Charlottesville Retirement System has launched a search for a manager to oversee an $8 million timber account. Further details regarding the mandate were unclear, as Jennifer Brown, city treasurer and trustee of the...

San Fran Chooses Search Finalists.
March 26, 2007... The board of the $15.2 billion San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) approved three new private equity investments at its March 20 meeting, confirmed David Kushner, deputy director of investments with SFERS. The...

Fairfax Selects Investment Consultant.
March 26, 2007... The $1.8 billion Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County has selected New England Pension Consultants (NEPC) as its new investment consultant, according to the minutes from the board's February meeting. The...

LA Guns & Hoses Considers Real Estate.
March 26, 2007... The $14.8 billion Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System (LAFPP) was scheduled to consider several real estate recommendations at its March 22 meeting, said Micolyn Yalonis, the plan's real estate consultant with The Townsend Group, prior to...

Odds & Ends.
March 26, 2007... *A group of institutional investors and investment managers, organized by Ceres and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, are pressuring lawmakers to enact federal legislation to address the pollution causing climate change. The group, which...

Hawaii ERS Concerned About Possible Sudan Divestment.
March 26, 2007... Hawaii could be the next state to pass Sudan divestment legislation, if HB 34-a bill that is rapidly being approved by Senate committees-is passed, and it worries the state's retirement system. The plan has an estimated $40 million in...

Loomis' Rolley Sees Enormous Opportunities' in Global Fixed-Income.
March 26, 2007... People often ask David Rolley why would Americans want to invest in global bonds. "It's odd," he mused. "Nobody ever asks why would Americans want to invest in global stocks." The answer, he said, is that there is an "enormous...