Investment Management Weekly articles from May 2008

Investment Management Weekly archives from May 2008

Delaware Investments Hires VP for New Group.
May 5, 2008... Delaware Investments has hired Antonio Tan-Torres as VP of its Structured Solutions Group. Tan-Torres is the first member hired for the new group, which will develop client solutions through leveraging all of the firm's capabilities. He...

Alameda County Plan Plots PE Foray.
May 5, 2008... The Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association (ACERA) will carve out a first-time allocation to private equity by pulling back on domestic equity, fixed-income and real estate investments, according to a new asset allocation mix adopted...

Oklahoma Plans Carve New Asset Mix: Changes Could Lead to Manager Searches.
May 5, 2008... The $6.5 billion Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) and the $240 million Oklahoma Uniform Retirement System for Justices and Judges (URSJJ) have tweaked their asset allocations, said CIO Kirk Stebbins. Stebbins said that...

New Mexico Plan Issues RFP.
May 5, 2008... The New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB) has issued an RFP for at least one international emerging markets equity manager to oversee a $300 million and $400 million portfolio. Bob Jacksha, CIO at the $9.4 billion plan, said that...

Asset Study on The Way in Beaver County.
May 5, 2008... The Beaver County Employees' Retirement Fund is gearing up to conduct an asset/liability review and update of its investment policy, said David Rossi, the newly elected comptroller for the Pennsylvania county. Rossi said that the $200...

Iowa PERS Taps Emerging Markets.
May 5, 2008... The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) is looking to expand its emerging markets equity manager roster and has issued an RFP for a firm to oversee a $150 million mandate. "We currently use only one manager, Emerging Markets...

Water Plan Seeks GAA Manager.
May 5, 2008... The $240 million Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Retirement System (MWRA) has launched a search for a manager to oversee a global asset allocation mandate, according to an RFP issued by the plan. The portfolio is slated to be up to...

Kansas City Plans Selects Managers.
May 5, 2008... The Kansas City Police and Civilian Employees' Retirement System has made initial commitments to commodities funds, confirmed James Pyle, manager for the Missouri plans. At its meeting last month, the plan decided to invest $35 million...

Ohio School Plan Adds To Roster.
May 5, 2008... Meeting highlights posted on the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio's (SERS) Web site indicates that the plan recently approved new investments in hedge funds and private equity. For hedge funds, the board made commitments of up to...

Baltimore City ERS Hires For REITs.
May 5, 2008... The $1.5 million Baltimore Employees' Retirement System has made an investment with CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Securities (CBRE). The agenda for the city's Board of Estimates meeting on April 23 indicates that the plan invested $11...

CalPERS CEO Departure Sparks Rumors.
May 5, 2008... The $244.1 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) will lose its CEO, Fred Buenrostro, at the end of the year, the third executive departure for the plan this year. The announcement sparked rumors of rising tensions...

Odds & Ends.
May 5, 2008... * Principal Global Investors has hired George Jamgochian as head of U.S. institutional sales. He joins the firm from FRM Research where he was the head of sales, marketing and relationship management. * In a newly created position, John...

Fairhaven Plan Hunts for New Administrator.
May 12, 2008... The $35.4 million Fairhaven Contributory Retirement System is looking for a new administrator to oversee the day-to-day activities of the plan, confirmed Claudette Souza, who currently holds the position at the Massachusetts plan. Souza...

Vermont Board Hits the Market for Managers.
May 12, 2008... The Vermont Pension Investment Committee (VPIC) is on the hunt for investment managers to join its economically targeted investment (ETI) program. The VPIC oversees $3.3 billion for the state's employee, teacher and municipal employee...

Illinois Fund Hunts for Bond Firms.
May 12, 2008... The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) has issued an RFP for a domestic fixed-income manager for its Manager Development Program. The hired firm will oversee approximately $50 million benchmarked against the Lehman...

LDI on Tap in Canada and the U.S.
May 12, 2008... MolsonCoors and Nortel said LDI is on tap in both their Canadian and U.S. defined benefit plans, but their cross-border implementations reveal markedly different investment brews. Development of liability-driven investment strategies in the...

Natick Board Hunts For New Consultant.
May 12, 2008... The Natick Retirement System is looking to tap the market for investment consultant, according to an RFP issued by the plan. Segal Advisors is currently the consultant for the Massachusetts plan. However, Segal spokeswoman Mary Feldman...

LACERS Interviews Equity Finalists.
May 12, 2008... The investment committee of the Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) recently met with three finalist for its search for a new emerging markets equity manager, according to the plan's Web site. The committee interviewed...

New York TRS Adds More PE, RE.
May 12, 2008... The $105 billion New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) has beefed up its holdings in private equity and real estate. At its meeting last month, the board voted to commit up to $50 million in Caltius Partners IV, up to $175 in...

Smith Breeden Out at PSERS.
May 12, 2008... The $67.4 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) terminated Smith Breeden Associates from an Enhanced Index S&P 500 index account at its May 2 meeting. Evelyn Tatkovski, spokeswoman for PSERS, explained that...

Wisconsin Plan Hires for Mid-Cap.
May 12, 2008... The Milwaukee County Employees' Retirement System was expected to recommend a firm for its mid-cap value equity search at last month's meeting. According the minutes for the plan's April 4 investment committee meeting, it was suggested...

Odds & Ends.
May 12, 2008... *Andrew Bischel has been promoted to CEO of SKBA Capital Management, replacing Kenneth Kaplan, who was named chairman. Joshua Rothe, director of research with the firm, was named as president, succeeding Bischel in the role. SKBA also named...

Rogerscasey Acquires Canadian Consultant.
May 19, 2008... Connecticut-based Rogerscasey has acquired Perimeter Capital Management Inc. (PCMI), a Canadian investment consulting firm. Bob Mitchell, PCMI's president, Bill Hutchinson and Heather Cooke, partners at the firm, and the PCMI analyst team will...

Imperial County Looks at Hedge Funds.
May 19, 2008... The $550 million Imperial County Employees' Retirement System (ICERS) recently received education on hedge fund investments, according to the minutes of its April 16 board meeting. ICERS consultant Wurts & Associates "guided the board...

Chi-Town Teachers Prep For Search.
May 19, 2008... The $12.9 billion Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund (CTPF) is gearing up to search for an emerging markets real estate manager to complement its recently hired managers for European and Asian real estate, said Kevin Huber, the plan's executive...

The Thirst for Commodities: Investors seeking out assets to boost returns.
May 19, 2008... Institutional investors are traditionally a conservative bunch by nature, and that has meant that for them that commodities have not been a natural fit in their portfolio. But a relatively stationary equities market, a continuing credit crisis,...

Hampshire County Hunts For Bond Firms.
May 19, 2008... The Hampshire County Retirement System is looking to invest between $5 million and $8 million in combined bank loans and high yield fixed-income. According to the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission's (PERAC)...

L.A. City Plan Picks Up Batterymarch.
May 19, 2008... The Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) has hired Batterymarch Financial Management for an emerging markets equity mandate, said Christal Chacon, spokeswoman for LACERS. According to documents sent to IMW by Chacon, the...

Sacramento Hires Long/Short Equity Managers.
May 19, 2008... Barclays Global Investors, JPMorgan Asset Management and UBS Global Asset Management have been hired by the Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System (SCERS) to manage approximately $60 million each in 130/30 strategies, said Jeff States,...

CalSTRS Chooses Three For New Program.
May 19, 2008... The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) has selected three firms to implement a new developing manager program for its $32.7 billion fixed-income portfolio. CalSTRS Spokesman Ricardo Duran said that Access Capital...

Odds & Ends.
May 19, 2008... * Sterling Stamos Capital Management has named Robert Goodman global head of private equity and real assets. Goodman was vice chairman and member of the global operating committee at Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) before joining the firm....

California PERS Names Interim CEO.
May 19, 2008... Kenneth Marzion has been named interim CEO at the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). He has been with CalPERS for over 30 years, and most recently held the position of assistant executive officer of the actuarial and...

Cabot Research Offers New Investing Tool.
May 19, 2008... Cabot Research has rolled out a product that is poised to help portfolio managers increase alpha by studying behavioral patterns. "There is a lot of science and technology that has been on the support and buying of stocks," said Michael...

Third Time's A Charm: Colorado Plans Work Toward Third Merger Attempt.
May 19, 2008... The $41 billion Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (CoPERA), the $3 billion Denver Public Schools Retirement System (DPSRS) and the Denver Public School Board are once again trying to negotiate a merger of the two pension systems....

BlackRock Names New Advisory Head.
May 26, 2008... Craig Phillips has joined BlackRock as the new head of the firm's financial markets advisory group, part of BlackRock's risk management division for institutional investors. In this position, Phillips will head the group that manages $15...

Private Equity on Deck at Texas Perm.
May 26, 2008... The $25 billion Texas School Permanent Fund (TPSF) could soon tap the private equity market. At a State Board of Education meeting last Thursday, the committee on school finance/permanent school fund discussed launching a search for a...

New Mexico Seeks Investment Advisor.
May 26, 2008... The New Mexico State Treasurer's Office (STO) has issued an RFP for an investment management advisor to assist with roughly $5 billion in the Treasurer's portfolio. Joelle Mevi, CIO with the STO, explained that it has worked with PFM Group...

Infrastructure Set to Boom: Key hires in sector suggest market surge.
May 26, 2008... Forget the credit crunch and the wobbly stock market. A flurry of hiring and ramping up of infrastructure financing operations by a couple of major Wall Street players suggests that there is a boom ahead in infrastructure finance, both at home...

Pa. Muni Issues Emerging Markets RFP.
May 26, 2008... The Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System (PMRS) is looking to hire an emerging markets equity manager for a $150 million mandate. According to the RFP issued by the Harrisburg-based plan, it is only interested in commingled vehicles,...

REITs Expansion Talks Continue At OPERS.
May 26, 2008... The investment committee of the Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) continued talks of adding international REITs to its investment portfolio last week. The plan's general consultant Mercer, along with real estate consultant...

Haverhill Eyes Commodities, Clean Tech.
May 26, 2008... The $170 million Haverhill Retirement System is looking to invest up to 5% of its assets in commodities and clean tech, according to an RFP recently issued by the plan. The Haverhill board will consider both active and passive strategies,...

Falmouth Seeks Distressed Real Estate.
May 26, 2008... Joining the ranks of plan sponsors who have tapped the market for distressed investment vehicles, the Town of Falmouth Retirement System has issued an RFI for real estate managers to oversee up to $5 million at the plan. According to the...

Plymouth County Hunts For PE, RE.
May 26, 2008... The Plymouth County Retirement Association has issued two RFIs for distressed private equity and distressed real estate managers to oversee between $5 million and $10 million each. According to the RFIs, there is not final submission date...

Merced Picks EARNEST for Alpha Mandate.
May 26, 2008... The Merced County Employees' Retirement Association (MCERA) was expected to hire EARNEST Partners for an international equity alpha mandate, according to the agenda from its meeting last Thursday. At its April meeting, the $580 million plan...

Loomis, Sayles Adds Senior Sales Pro.
May 26, 2008... Loomis, Sayles & Company has hired Laurie Deaton as a senior salesperson for its Institutional Services Group. She will be based in San Francisco, where she will focus on public and corporate plans, in addition to endowments and...

Odds & Ends.
May 26, 2008... * Phil de Cristo has been named president and group executive of Mercer's investment business, a new position with the firm. Both the firm's investment consulting and investment management divisions will report to him. de Cristo was most...