Investment Management Weekly articles from March 2009

Investment Management Weekly archives from March 2009

Illinois TRS Cleans Up Roster.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) appears to be getting a jumpstart on its spring cleaning, as the firm terminated three managers at a Feb. 19 meeting. Firstly, the board removed ING...

Iowa PERS Strips Westridge of Funds.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo Westridge Capital Management has lost another account due to the ongoing regulatory investigations being conducted by several agencies into the firm. The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) has added...

TIAA-CREF Picks Up Manager.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff TIAA-CREF, has approved a $40 million investment in the Developing World Markets Microfinance Equity Fund I, an $82 million fund that provides equity capital to microfinance institutions that lend to low-income...

UBS Enhances U.S. Equity Research Team.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Don Carson and Marc Goodman have joined the U.S. Equities Research team at UBS Investment Bank as managing directors. According to the statement announcing the hires, Carson will cover agricultural, commodity...

The Survey Says ... Hedge Funds Rock?(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Gerelyn Terzo, Investment Dealers' Digest An $8 billion alleged investment scheme unraveled recently when the SEC charged Robert Allen Stanford, chairman of the Stanford Financial Group, with alleged fraud. Coming on the heels of...

Pa. Plan to Consider New Asset Classes?(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Berks County Employees' Retirement Fund will be educated on opportunity, emerging markets and high yield funds by its consultant. The minutes from a Jan. 21 meeting state that SEI Global Institutional Group...

Texas ERS Finalizes Private Equity Plan.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Employees' Retirement System of Texas (ERS) has approved an updated private equity tactical plan, which entails committing $1 billion to the asset class in 2009 and $700 million each year for the next four years,...

San Antonio 911 Closes in on High Yield/Bank Loan Hire.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund considered investment committee recommendations to hire GoldenTree Asset Management for a $35 million high yield/bank loan mandate. The board first discussed the search at...

Asset Manager Names New Chief Risk Officer.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Smith Breeden Associates has named a new chief risk officer in the form of John Sprow. Sprow will lead the firm's independent risk management committee and report to Eugene Flood, CEO and president of Smith...

Florida SBA Tech Venture Stalls.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Carolina Braunschweig While Hamilton Lane has secured the fund-of-funds management contract for a Florida State Board Administration (SBA) initiative that could pour almost $2 billion worth of investment into the state's technology...

Pennsylvania Fund Shoots Down Consultant Hire.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Officials at the Ross Township Retirement System have decided the plan should continue making investment decisions on its own. The board at the Pittsburgh-based plan had been interviewing potential investment...

Texas Teachers Extends Consultant Contract.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The board of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) has renewed its agreement with general investment consultant Ennis Knupp + Associates. "The Board acted to authorize an extension of the Ennis Knupp...

Mississippi Treasury to Tap Equity Market.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Mississippi Treasury Department has issued an RFI for large-cap value domestic equity managers. According to the RFI, the treasurer's office seeks to create a short list of firms determined to have expertise in...

St. Louis Fund Issues RFP.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Public School Retirement System of St. Louis (PRSSTL) has put out feelers for a general consultant. NEPC currently assists the $795 million plan with its investments. Andrew Clark, executive director at the...

Smith Graham Picks Up Ark Assets.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Houston-based Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors has acquired the Ark Asset Management Company's fixed-income and small- and mid-cap value equity assets in an acquisition that closed today. According to a...

Odds & Ends.(Odds & Ends)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff *Richard Ketchum has been named CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), effective March 16. He will retain his current responsibilities as chairman of FINRA and head of NYSE regulation. Ketchum...

New Managing Director for Guggenheim.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Sarah Lange has joined Guggenheim Partners Asset Management as a managing director, where she will focus on business development in the firm's insurance and fund-of-funds operations. She will be based in the...

Beaver County Hires Six For Equity.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Beaver County Employees' Pension Fund bulked up its equity manager roster with six new additions at a Feb. 18 meeting. David Rossi, Beaver county's controller, said the board has hired the firms to oversee...

APFC Puts the Kibosh on Alternative Investments.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $27.7 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) delivered bad news to two of its managers last week when the board decided not to go ahead with previously approved investments. The board decided to set...

FBR Undergoes Name Change.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Arlington, Virginia-based REIT investment firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group (FBR) has decided to change its name. FBR will immediately begin doing business under Arlington Asset Investment Corporation,...

PSERS Pulls Back from Westridge.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Pennsylvania School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) has pulled a $1 billion investment from Westridge Capital Management in light of regulatory investigations being conducted into the firm's practices. ...

CalSTRS Hunts for New Alts. HeadX.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $119.7 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is on the hunt for a new director of its alternative investments program, following the departure of Real Desrochers who has retired from the...

Alameda County Considers Three for Large-Cap.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The investment committee of the Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association (ACERA) has narrowed the candidates for a large-cap growth domestic equity mandate to a short list of three. As determined by ACERA...

San Diego County had Westridge Exposure.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The $6 billion San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) has been stung by the WG Trading Co./Westridge Capital Management scandal. The plan had $78 million invested with WG Trading Co.,...

Florida Foundation Seeks New Consultant.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The University of West Florida Foundation (UWF) may pick up a new investment consultant, as the fund has launched a search for advisory services. According to the RFP, the firm has used the same consultant for the...

Michigan Fund Fills High Yield Allocations.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The $304 million City of Ann Arbor Retirement System has picked up two new fixed-income managers. MacKay Shields and Penn Capital Management will each manage high yield portfolios for the Michigan plan. In...

Macquarie Hires Chairman For Canada Biz.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Macquarie Financial Corp. has named a chairman for Macquarie Capital Markets Canada, the Canadian unit of Australian-based firm. In the newly created role, Stanley Hartt will work with the firm's senior...

Big Apple Development Corp. Issues RFP.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is looking to hire managers to oversee its Entrepreneurial Investment (EI) funds, which will make early stage investments in start-up companies based in New...

Police & Fire Plan to Study Assets.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Township of Shelby Fire & Police Pension and Retirement Board will undergo a soup-to-nuts review of its investment targets over the next few months. At its January meeting, the board authorized Merrill Lynch to...

Connecticut Plan Seeks Bond Firm.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $80 million Town of Stratford Pension Fund will be making a $4 million investment in U.S. fixed-income and is seeking a manager for the account. According to the RFP issued for the search, the firm will oversee...

San Diego County Loses CIO.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo David Deutsch resigned from his post as CIO of the $6 billion San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association (SDCERA) after five years in the role, the plan has announced. His last day will be March 19. ...

Odds & Ends - March 6, 2009.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff *Janet Christensen has joined NewOak Capital as managing director of marketing to institutional clients. She was co-founder of Tegris, a firm specializing in M&A and asset management, before joining the firm....

Massachusetts Plan in Search of Fund-Of-Funds.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The New Bedford Retirement Board has issued an RFP for a private equity manager to oversee a $7 million fund-of-funds mandate. Further details regarding the search could not be ascertained. Calls to Gerard...

Union Pension Unit Urges Lewis' Firing.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Paul Davis, American Banker A shareholder activist group demanded Thursday that Bank of America fire chief executive Kenneth Lewis before the annual meeting next month. In a letter to O. Temple Sloan Jr. , BofA's lead director,...

Indiana Considers Pension Merger Legislation.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The $11.2 billion Indiana Public Employees' Retirement Fund (PERF) and the $6.9 billion Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund (TRF) could soon be joined at the hip into a single retirement plan, according to...

Swampscott Seeks Smid-Cap Services.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Town of Swampscott Retirement Board is seeking portfolio management services for a roughly $1.7 million small to-mid-cap core equity account. The plan issued an RFP, which states that it would consider separate...

Kentucky Teachers Seek Consultant.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System (KTRS) is testing the waters for an investment management consultant. Documents on the KTRS' Web site indicate that Becker, Burke Associates currently serves as the plan's...

Illinois Adds to Small-Cap Roster.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) is three firms heavier, the plan has announced. The systems has hired the Boston Company Asset Management for a $120 million small-to-mid-cap growth...

Oppenheimer Gets New Investment Strategist.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Brian Belski has joined Oppenheimer & Co. as the firm's new chief investment strategist and a managing director. Belski was previously with Merrill Lynch & Co., where he spent the last four years as chief U.S....

NYC Funds to Get More Passive.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The City of New York Office of the Comptroller has issued an RFP for managers to oversee non-U.S. equity passive index mandates for the $100 billion New York City Retirement Systems (NYCRS). The NYCRS' currently...

Renaissance Technologies Hires Barclays Exec.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Gerelyn Terzo, Investment Dealers' Digest Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund with $20 billion in assets under management, has tapped Matthew Scanlan from Barclays Global Investors (BGI) to run its institutional unit. ...

Pa. Fund Mulls Equity Cut.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Susquehanna County Retirement System is considering trimming it allocation to equity by 20%. According to a published report on the matter, the fund has been advises by The Seneca Group to make the change in...

Caisse de dA[c]pA[acute accent]t Gains New Chairman.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Caisse de dA[c]pA[acute accent]t et placement du QuA[c]bec has named Robert Tessier chairman. He replaces Pierre Brunet. Caisse de depot manages $120.1 billion in assets for public and private pension funds...

Texas Pension Review Board Seeks More Power.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden wants to enhance the power of the Texas State Pension Review Board, according to the Austin-American Statesmen. Arguing that the review board has been a "shell...

Florida Fire Plan Kicks Off Dual Searches.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $38 million Miramar Firefighters' Pension Fund has issued RFPs seeking the services of large-cap growth and value managers. The selected firms would oversee mandates of $4 million each. According to the...

San Fran ERS Picks Up Three.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo Two new private equity investments, as well as one hedge fund investment, has been approved by the San Francisco City & County Employees' Retirement System (SFERS) board of trustees. David Kushner, deputy director...

Three on Watch at Oakland P&F Plan.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Oakland Police and Fire Retirement Systems (PFRS) will be closely monitoring three of its managers at the suggestion of Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA). Teir Jenkins, the fund's accountant, confirmed that...

San Jose 911 Approves Two for Opportunistic Allocation.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo MacKay Shields and Seix Investment Advisors have been tapped by the San Jose Police and Fire Department Retirement Plan to oversee bank loan/high yield mandates, said Ronald Kumar, an investment analyst with the $2.56...

Georgia Plan Hunts for Large-Cap Value.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The Chatham County Employee Retirement Plan has issued an RFP for a large-cap value manager to oversee an $8 million mandate. Further details could not be ascertained, as Linda Cramer, director of finance with the...

SEI Suggests Retooled Rebalancing.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo In a new report by SEI, "Rebalancing Reset: A New Approach in a New World of Institutional Investing", the firm took a look at current rebalancing approaches amongst institutional investors and suggests a more flexible...

Investors Wary of Market Regulators.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The majority of investors have lost faith in rating agencies, according to a recent Greenwich Roundtable and Quinnipiac University survey. Of the 89 private and institutional investors polled between Jan. 26 to...

Innovation Portfolio Could Be Testing Ground for CalSTRS.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Carolina Braunschweig A $2 billion innovation portfolio created by the California State Teachers' Retirement System could be a testing ground for new investment strategies-both for internal and external portfolio managers. The...

Contra Costa May Pull Out of Morgan Stanley Fund.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The board of the Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association (CCCERA) is rethinking its decision to invest in a real estate fund managed by Morgan Stanley. At a July 9, 2008 meeting, the board approved a...

Aladdin Capital Hires for Loan Group.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff William Fish has been appointed as senior managing director of alternative investment firm Aladdin Capital Holdings' global loan group, where he will report to vice-chairman and CIO Neal Neilinger. Fish was head...

California Plan Decides to Stick with Callan.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Marin County Employees' Retirement Association (MCERA) will keep Callan Associates on board even as the firm merges into Mercer Investment Consulting. It was announced last month that Mercer was acquiring...

Hedge Fund Execs Pessimistic on 2009 Outlook.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff, Money Management Executive Hedge fund executives are bracing for a dramatically different outlook on their industry in the year ahead, with 84% expecting increased competition, 82% bracing for increased costs and...

Alabama PACT In The Red.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Alabama State Treasurer Kay Ivey recently sent a letter to 48,000 families that participate in the Alabama Prepaid College Tuition Program (PACT) explaining the plan's financial difficulties and noting the fact that...

Insurance Plan Hires Minority-Owned Firms.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo Maryland's Injured Workers Insurance Fund (IWIF) has wrapped up its emerging investment manager search with the hiring of four minority-owned firms. Robert Merritt, executive VP and CIO with the $1.5 billion IWIF,...

Piedmont Hires for Quant Team.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Piedmont Investment Advisors has made three staffing changes, one of which will directly affect its quantitative research efforts. Sumali Sanjal, co-founder of Piedmont, was named chief operating officer. Aside...

Secondary Slowdown?(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Kelly Holman, Investment Dealers' Digest When Harvard University's investment management firm explored the sale of $1.5 billion in investor commitments last fall, it looked as if the floodgates on the secondary private equity market...

Ohio School Fund Adds Eight for HFs.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo\ The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS) gained more traction on the hedge fund front at its February meeting. Tim Barbour, spokesman for the $8.25 billion SERS, said that the board approved initial...

U.S. Plans Endorse Market Regulation Principals.(News)
March 16, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Numerous U.S. pension plans, representing over $900 billion in investments in global markets, have endorsed the "Principals of Financial Regulation Reform: A Model for Change", according to a statement issued by the...

Odds & Ends.(Odds & Ends)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff *Rockefeller & Co. has named Jon Pratt as managing director for institutional relationships. Pratt will report to James McDonald, CEO and president of the firm. Prior to joining Rockefeller, Pratt was a managing...

Ohio 911 Approves Private Equity Commitments.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $13 billion Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) has approved private equity secondary fund commitments in the Landmark Equity Partners XIV and Lexington Capital Partners VII funds. David Graham, spokesman...

L.A. Utility to Launch Core Bond Search.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Retirement Plan will issue an RFP for an active fixed-income manager, as it considers replacing ING on the account. At its board meeting last month, the $8 billion...

Marco Consulting Hires From Fidelity, UBS.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Marco Consulting Group (MCG) has hired a new consultant and assistant research director. Julian Regan will serve as the firm's newest consultant. Regan's experience includes stints as VP of governance and...

American Realty Hires Institutional Marketer.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Jennifer Lundmark has joined American Realty Advisors as director of marketing and client services. Based in the firm's central region office in Chicago, she will focus on developing and maintaining new and...

A Perfect Storm For Alternative Investment Sector.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Gerelyn Terzo, Investment Dealers' Digest Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of PIMCO, said the alternative investment industry is in the midst of a perfect storm, according to a column authored by El-Erian and printed in the...

Stanislaus Hires for Passive Investment.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The $935 million Stanislaus County Employees' Retirement Association (StanCERA) has selected Barclays Global Investors (BGI) to manage a $40 million Russell Top 200 Value Index mandate said Tom Watson, administrator of...

Ventura County Watches RE Manager.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Jakema Lewis The Ventura County Employees Retirement Association (VCERA) has lengthened its watch list by one. Value-added real estate manager RREEF was added to the list last month. Minutes from a Feb. 23 board meeting, Kevin...

N.J. Sues Lehman Execs, Directors.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Michelle Kaske, The Bond Buyer New Jersey yesterday filed suit against top Lehman Brothers Holdings executives and board members over claims that company officials misled the state's pension fund into making investments that cost...

Wyoming Taps Hedge Fund Pro for CIO Slot.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The $6.1 billion Wyoming Retirement System (WRS) has selected Trent May to serve as the plan's first ever CIO. May spent seven years with Deer Creek Capital Partners, a hedge fund firm that he opened in 2002....

Indictments Expected in New York State Pension Probe.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff A nearly two-year probe into the New York state pension fund conducted by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to yield two indictments, the New York Daily News has reported. Hank Morris, a political...

New Mexico ERB Talks Fund-of-Funds.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo Bob Jacksha, CIO with the $6.6 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB), said that the investment committee is considering a new hedge fund-of-funds allocation. He said that the plan now has some...

OCERS Stands by Callan Contract.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo Another fund has opted to keep Callan Associates on its roster despite the firm's merger with Mercer. B>Robert Kinsler, spokesman for the $6.4 billion plan, said the board of the Orange County Employees' Retirement...

CalPERS Places Four on Focus List.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has released its "2009 Focus List", identifying four companies that are being challenged by the plan for poor performance and corporate governance. This...

Pennsylvania Plan Creates Absolute Return Target.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The board of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System has approved changes to its asset scheme, creating a new breakout to absolute return strategies, and affecting the targets for equity, real...

Arkansas Police and Employee Funds to Merge.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Arkansas state Senate has approved legislation to combine the $132 million Police Retirement System (ASPRS) into the $4 billion Public Employees Retirement System (APERS). The legislation would transfer the...

Odds & Ends - March 20, 2009.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff *The $7 billion Maine Public Employees Retirement System has named Sandra Matheson as executive director, effective April 1. She takes over from John Milazzo, the plan's deputy CEO and general counsel, who has...

Chairman Named for Connecticut IAC.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Connecticut governor M. Jodi Rell has named Joseph Roxe chairman of the state's investment advisory council (IAC). The IAC advises the state treasurer on the investments of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and...

GMAM Undergoes Name Change.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff General Motors Asset Management (GMAM) has announced plans to rename itself Promark Global Advisors, as it seeks to drum up more external business, the firm said. GMAM is the in-house investment management arm...

Macquarie Picks North American Vice Chairman.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Macquarie Group has appointed Robert Redmond vice chairman of Macquarie Capital Advisors in the U.S., as the firm expands its North American advisory and capital markets platforms, according to a statement...

Fresno Wraps Real Estate Searches.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) has made final selections in its searches for opportunistic and value-added real estate managers. Roberto Pena, administrator with the $2.5 billion...

San Joaquin Plan Looks at Asset Structure.(News)
March 23, 2009... Byline: Marc Sorondo The San Joaquin County Employees' Retirement Association (SJCERA) is in the process of reviewing alternate asset allocation schemes, said Annette St. Urbain, CEO with the $2.2 billion California plan. She...