Investment Management Weekly articles from November 2004

Investment Management Weekly archives from November 2004

Third Quarter Flat for Pension Funds.
November 1, 2004... Third quarter returns for U.S. pension plans were flat during the third quarter, according to data produced by Northern Trust. ERISA plans gained 10 basis points, while the average public fund gained 43 basis points. The average foundation and...

Arizona To Review Int'l Equity Portfolio: Eyes Real Estate Investments.
November 1, 2004... The $20 billion Arizona State Retirement System will launch a comprehensive examination of its international equity portfolio in the coming months and could launch a search for real estate managers next year. Dan Kapanak, senior portfolio...

LACERS to Issue Index RFI.
November 1, 2004... The investment committee of the $8.9 billion Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System, is recommending that the board approve an RFI for a passive large-cap value equity manager, a move that could potentially unseat incumbent Barclays...

ACERA Watches Capital Guardian.
November 1, 2004... The $4 billion Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association has placed Capital Guardian Trust Company on watch for performance issues on its $555 million international equity account. An official at the plan, who requested anonymity,...

Maryland Winds Down A/A Study.
November 1, 2004... Money manager and or allocation changes may be on the horizon for the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, now that it has wrapped up its soup-to-nuts asset allocation study, said information officer Joe Coale, last week. "We...

Colorado PERA Cans BIAM.
November 1, 2004... The $32 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association has ended its relationship with Bank of Ireland Asset Management, which managed a $495 million international equity account. It could not be determined if the plan would...

City of Ann Arbor Hires Invesco.
November 1, 2004... The City of Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System has appointed Invesco as its new stable value manager. Full details of the preceding searchincluding the size and the funding source for the new mandate-could not be determined, as calls to...

WSIB Hires Int'l Manager.
November 1, 2004... The Washington State Investment Board recently added Fidelity Investments to its international equity roster, said Liz Mendizabel, a spokeswoman for the $57.3 billion fund. Fidelity will manage a $500 million core mandate, she said. The...

Dover Adds Researcher Analyst.
November 1, 2004... Greenwich, Conn.-based, Dover Management has hired Michael Kassab as its new research analyst, the firm announced last week. Cindy Stoller, a Dover spokeswoman, said that Kassab's primary duties will include performing investment and...

Hedge Fund Registration Narrowly Passes With 3-2 Vote.
November 1, 2004... It's official. In a highly anticipated move, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted 3-2 in favor of requiring hedge fund managers to register as investment advisors with the agency last week. The mandate, which will take effect Feb....

Lord Abbett to Boost Offerings With Large-Cap Core.
November 1, 2004... Lord Abbett & Co., seeking to augment its roughly $83 billion in assets under management and broaden its investment capabilities, has implemented a large-cap core strategy to its offerings. "Our large-cap core strategy started in October,"...

The Election's Impact on the Stock Market.
November 1, 2004... Rising interest rates, economic volatility, potential terrorist attacks, rising oil prices and, of course, there's the presidential election. In some ways, it's just one more factor in the mix of things that make the stock market do the...

Odds & Ends.
November 1, 2004... *Former Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund trustee, Thomas Bennett, was indicted for felony theft this week. Bennett, alongside fellow former trustee David Harker, as first reported in IMW, was accused of racking up more than $218,000 in travel...

Pa. State Watchdog Wins Treasurer Post.
November 8, 2004... Pennsylvania Auditor General Robert Casey will soon be addressed by a different title: State Treasurer. Casey played an instrumental role in the state's Commonwealth Court's decision to subject the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement...

OPERS Launches Dual Searches.
November 8, 2004... The $60 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System (OPERS) is on the prowl for managers to oversee approximately $550 million of the pension fund assets. The plan has issued an RFI for a manager to oversee between $100 million and...

Sources: Contra Costa Eyes TCW: PM Shakeup Might Be The Cause.
November 8, 2004... The $3.3 billion Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association is said to have placed its large-cap growth manager, TCW Group on watch on a roughly $170 million account, according to sources familiar with the situation. Reasons for...

Mercer Shuts Down GIF Organization: Regulatory Climate Forces Program Closure.
November 8, 2004... As New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer continues to shine the spotlight on Marsh & McClennan Companies for allegedly soliciting rigged bids for insurance contracts, one of its subsidiaries is trying to clean up its business. But for...

Former Money Manager Goes Directly to Jail.
November 8, 2004... After being found guilty in August (See IMW, 8/16/04), Nathan Chapman, Jr., head of Chapman Capital Management and former money manager for the Maryland State Retirement & Pension System, was sentenced on Nov. 1 to 7 1/2 years in prison and was...

Leedom Appointed New Administrator.
November 8, 2004... Marilyn Leedom, former assistant administrator of the Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association was appointed as the retirement administrator on Oct. 1. Leedom replaces Patricia Wiegert, who retired from the plan. Wiegert had been...

Natick Eyes Core Plus Bonds, Property.
November 8, 2004... The $67 million Natick Contributory Retirement System has initiated RFPs for core plus fixed-income and private real estate managers, to oversee $18 million and 2 million, respectively. Kathleen Bacon, plan director, confirmed the searches,...

Attleboro Seeks Private Real Estate.
November 8, 2004... The $65 million Attleboro Municipal Contributory Retirement has launched a search for a manager to oversee a private real estate account of up to $2.5 million. Leslie Ring, executive director, said that the private real estate allocation...

Illinois Teachers' Appoints New CIO.
November 8, 2004... The $31 billion Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois has appointed Stan Rupnik as its new CIO. Rupnik replaces John Day who retired from the position in April 2003 (See IMW, 5/30/04). Rupnik has been the director of...

La. Plan Eyes Large-Cap Value Manager.
November 8, 2004... The Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System will decide whether to retain its large-cap value managerTrinity Investment Managementduring board meetings in December. The firm, which oversees a $150 million large-cap value account, has...

Minneapolis Cops Hires Two.
November 8, 2004... The $400 million Minneapolis Police Relief Association has hired two managers to oversee a fixed-income account and a new allocation to global equity. Renee Tessier, executive director, said that the plan had hired Western Asset Management...

CalPERS Targets Fortune 100 Companies in Disclosure Probe.
November 8, 2004... The $168 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System issued a warning last week to the nation's largest companies; eliminate any conflict of interests that may interfere with company business. In a letter sent to the CEOs of...

Recipe of Tradition, Research Equals Success for Hedge Fund Boutique.
November 8, 2004... Being a risk-taker in this world may prove to be rewarding in some instances, but when it comes to managing assets and overseeing investments, the heads of hedge fund-of-funds firm Powers & Dubin Asset Allocation and Management Co. contend that...

Odds & Ends.
November 8, 2004... *The Luzerne County Retirement Board has removed money manager Wells Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (Wells REIT) as a defendant in its racketeering suit. The $150 million fund will receive a $12.8 million settlement from Wells REIT, which it...

At Press Time.
November 15, 2004... BIAM Names New Chief Amid Sliding Holdings The Bank of Ireland Group has appointed Kevin Dolan-current president and CEO at LCF Rothschild Private Equity Partners-as the new CEO of Bank of Ireland Asset Management. Dolan's appointment...

Hawaii Cuts Cord on BIAM.
November 15, 2004... The $8.5 billion Hawaii Employees' Retirement System has terminated Bank of Ireland Asset Management for underperformance and recent organizational changes, said Kimo Blaisdell, the plan's CIO. BIAM, was placed on watch in November 2003 for...

N.J. Sets $11B Alternative Asset Allocation.
November 15, 2004... The state of New Jersey will now allocate a portion of its assets to alternative investments in the form of real estate, private equity, absolute return strategies and hedge funds, said Tom Vincz, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of...

Former VP Gore to Launch SRI Fund.
November 15, 2004... He may not have "invented the Internet" but experts agree that the new money management firm that former Vice President Al Gore is planning to launch is part of a new movement in socially responsible investing. Gore, along with David...

Pa. Plan Initiates Consultant Search.
November 15, 2004... The $58 million City of Harrisburg Police Pension Board has initiated a consultant search that could unseat its incumbent PFM Advisors. "PFM has been a consultant with us for five years," said Board Secretary, Lisa Collins, adding that the...

Small-Cap Search Launched at Salem.
November 15, 2004... The $72 million Salem Contributory Retirement System is searching for a domestic equity manager to oversee a small-cap growth portfolio. According to the RFP issued by the fund, Salem will consider proposals from asset managers for...

San Bernardino County Eyes Advisor.
November 15, 2004... The San Bernardino County Treasurer's office has sparked a search for an investment consultant to advise on its internally managed $2.9 billion investment pool. Craig Hughes, investment officer, said that contracts were due to expire for...

Northern Trust Hires Former BGIResearcher.
November 15, 2004... Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI) recently added a research guru to its portfolio management team, the firm announced last week. Chad Ravkin, former principal and head of index research at Barclays Global Investors (BGI), has joined...

School District Seeks Consultant.
November 15, 2004... The Amity Regional School District Non-Certified Retirement System has launched a search for an investment consultant. Details of the search could not be determined as calls to Thomas Sullivan, director of financial and administrative...

SIG Pro Bolts to UVIMCO.
November 15, 2004... Outsourcing firm Strategic Investment Group is one man short following the departure of CIO Christopher Brightman, last week. Brightman, who joined the investment shop in May 2001, will now spearhead the efforts of the $2.5 billion...

University of Illinois Hires Ariel.
November 15, 2004... The $1.2 billion endowment fund of the University of Illinois has hired Ariel Capital Management to oversee a $20 million smid-cap value account. Dean Hagen, director of university investments, said that the search was launched in July as...

Oldenkamp: Chemistry, Edge is Key to Finding Managers.
November 15, 2004... For Ron Oldenkamp, selecting money managers for his third party marketing firm-Genesis Marketing Group-is not just based on the concept of people, process, performance and philosophy. Aside from the firm's in-depth screening process, which...

Odds & Ends.
November 15, 2004... Marsh & McLennan Co. (MMC) announced that it would be slashing 3,000 jobs as a result of the fallout from the price-fixing and bid-rigging scandal that has afflicted its insurance brokerage arm. The job cuts will affect MMC's offices worldwide....

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION.
November 15, 2004... In IMW's Nov. 8 Odds & Ends section, Eric Mindich's last name was incorrectly spelled. IMW regrets the error. Copyright 2004 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.imweekly.com

Cash Flow Slows Down for Hedge Funds.
November 22, 2004... Cash flowed into hedge funds less freely in the third quarter, data from Tremont Capital Management's TASS hedge fund database revealed. The market-neutral investment vehicles raked in only $25 billion, from $43 billion during the second...

Beantown Issues Int'l RFP.
November 22, 2004... The $3.2 billion Boston Retirement System has launched a search for a manager to oversee a $175 million international equity account with a core or value focus. Details of the search were scant, as Richard Tierney, executive director, was...

DC Plan Contemplates International Equity Search.
November 22, 2004... The $2.5 billion District of Columbia Retirement Board is contemplating an international equity search, possibly in the near future. Executive Director Betty Ann Kane said that while an international equity search was under consideration,...

Putnam Seeks More with Less: Is Marsh & McLennan Grooming Putnam for a Potential Sale?
November 22, 2004... Amid company-wide layoffs and speculation about a possible sale, Putnam Investments' CEO said he is confident that the company can get bigger by getting smaller, according to IMW's sister publication, American Banker. Ed Haldeman, Putnam's...

Marin Eyes Real Estate, Fixed-Income.
November 22, 2004... While there were no immediate changes resulting from the Marin County Employees' Retirement Association's recently completed asset allocation study, the board will take a look at its real estate portfolio and could investigate portable alpha...

Va. Plan On Prowl for Small-Cap Manager.
November 22, 2004... The $66 million City of Charlottesville Retirement System has launched a search for a manager to oversee a $2.7 million small-cap growth mandate. Details of the search could not be determined, as Pete Wingfield, plan administrator, was out...

Mass. Plan PlotsLarge-Cap, EAFE Searches.
November 22, 2004... The $475 million Plymouth County Retirement Association rolled out $37 million in searches last week. It could not be determined why the searches were initiated, as John McLellan, treasurer of the fund, did not return repeated phone calls....

Essex Plan Launches Dual Searches.
November 22, 2004... The Essex Regional Retirement Board has issued RFPs for international equity and fixed-income managers. The $10 million international equity account will be invested with a value style. According to a document obtained by IMW, the...

Ohio SERS Appoints New Deputy.
November 22, 2004... The $8.2 billion Ohio School Employees' Retirement System has appointed Lisa Morris as its new deputy executive director. Morris replaces John LeHockey, who left the plan several months ago and relocated to Jacksonville, Fla. Morris,...

NC Endowment Names New CEO.
November 22, 2004... The UNC Management Company-which oversees the assets of the $1.1 billion endowment of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-has tapped Jonathan King to serve as its new president and CEO, executive search firm Russell Reynolds...

BIAM Still Secure at Dallas 911.
November 22, 2004... Despite recent client turnover at the Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), the $2 billion Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has decided to retain the manager, Plan Administrator Richard Tettamant said last week. The plan received a...

Ark.TeachersToChoose Private Equity Mgr.
November 22, 2004... The $8.4 billion Arkansas Teachers' Retirement System is gearing up to interview asset managers for the fund's private equity investments, Executive Director David Malone told IMW last week. "We're interviewing for a customized...

Third-Party Marketers Make Their Way.
November 22, 2004... What's the best way for a fledgling third-party marketing firm to take flight? By remaining a visible, yet judicious, fund-manager middlemen say. "We're contacted constantly by investment management firms," said John Gruber, co-founder of...

European Firm Readies for "Return" to the U.S.
November 22, 2004... Even before the U.S. dollars fell to record lows last week, or President George Bush was elected to a second term in office at the beginning of the month, many market watchers pontificated that institutional plan sponsor interest in the...

Odds & Ends.
November 22, 2004... *The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has a deficit of $23.3 billion, the agency announced last week. According to the PBGC, most of the losses were a result of pension fund failures in the airline industry. *The California...

Canada Fund Faces Regulatory Scrutiny.
November 29, 2004... The Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System (OMERS) has spent $1 million on a review of its investment practices. The $33 billion fund was asked by the Ontario Services Commission of Ontario to hand over documents pertaining to some of...

Sonoma to Launch Global, Int'l Equity Searches.
November 29, 2004... The $900 million Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association is said to be gearing up to launch a global equity search and will issue RFPs for an international equity manager, a move that could potentially replace the beleaguered Bank of...

Ohio PERS Creates Opportunistic Allocation: May Explore Hedge Funds, Other Investments.
November 29, 2004... Following up on investment goals set at the start of 2004, the $58 billion Ohio Public Employees' Retirement System has finally created its opportunistic asset class-which represents between 1-2% of the plan's total allocation-and is exploring...

Airline Pension Woes Could Trickle to Others.
November 29, 2004... With three major airlines now in a fiscal tailspin, concern is growing not only that this industry may be facing a large-scale pension funding crisis, but also that all defined benefit plan sponsors could wind up paying for these companies'...

Worcester Hunts for Small-Cap Growth.
November 29, 2004... The approximately $550 million Worcester Regional Retirement Board has launched a search for a domestic equity manager, IMW learned last week. The Mass.-based plan sponsor has placed a $14 million small-cap growth mandate up for grabs....

La. Municipal Cops Watch Oberweis.
November 29, 2004... The $1.2 billion Louisiana Municipal Police Employees' Retirement System has placed Oberweis Asset Management on watch for performance issues on its roughly $24 million small-cap growth account. Calls to Virginia Eckert, executive director...

Mass. Plan Issues Small-Cap RFP.
November 29, 2004... The Chicopee Retirement Board is searching for a small-cap growth manager to spearhead a $6 million account, according to an RFP issued by the fund. It could not be ascertained what prompted the fund to launch the search. Calls placed to...

Former Md. Trustee Faces Probation.
November 29, 2004... The Nathan Chapman saga was one step closer to ending last week with the sentencing of Debra Humphries, former pension fund trustee for the Maryland State Retirement & Pension System. Humphries-who helped to oversee the investments managed...

Leggett to Land In New Hampshire.
November 29, 2004... Bob Leggett, CIO at the $13 billion Kentucky Retirement System, has been appointed as the new executive director of the $4.5 billion New Hampshire Retirement System. Leggett's appointment replaces Eric Henry, who resigned in June after...

Experts: Next Congress Could Pass Pension Bill.
November 29, 2004... With the prospects dim for Congress passing legislation this year to address the concerns of defined benefit plan sponsors, pension advocates are looking to the next two-year congressional cycle for a fix to their problems, according to IMW's...

Odds & Ends.
November 29, 2004... *Brian Pini has been appointed treasurer and CIO of the $706 million St. Louis University endowment fund. He steps into this newly created role from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis where he was the director of finance and administration. ...