Investment Management Weekly articles from November 2005

Investment Management Weekly archives from November 2005

Ex Virginia CIO Leads GMAM.
November 7, 2005... After less than a year with with General Motors Asset Management (GMAM), Nancy Everett will be taking over as CEO. Everett will replace current CEO W. Allen Reed who will retire at the end of the year. Everett will also retain her current...

Hauke: Bear Market is in the Forecast: Bull Market Has Had Its Run.
November 7, 2005... The economy is due for a shift in the upcoming months, one that could have effects on investors and their behavior as well as on the lifestyle of the average American, said Keenan Hauke, manager at the Indianapolis-based hedge fund firm, Samex...

New Deal for Forstmann-Leff May be Difficult.
November 7, 2005... The ongoing debacle at Refco Group Holdings, could put the kibosh on any future plans to unload its subsidiaries, according to industry watchers. On Nov. 1, Old Mutual Asset Management halted plans to purchase Forstmann-Leff Associates, a...

S.C. Investment Commission to Hire CIO.
November 7, 2005... The South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission (SCRSIC), which oversees approximately $26 billion in assets of the South Carolina Retirement System, is looking to hire a CIO; a newly created position. Joye Lang, spokeswoman for...

Mississippi Appoints New Director.
November 7, 2005... The board of the $16.7 billion Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System (MPERS) appointed Pat Robertson as the new executive director of the system starting Nov. 1. Her appointment replaces Frank Ready who retired in June (See IMW,...

Iowa Regents Selects Manager Finalists.
November 7, 2005... The State of Iowa Board of Regents (SIBR), has selected finalists for its private equity, real estate and high yield fixed-income searches. Full details-including the reason for the original searches and mandate sizes-could not be...

PSERS Picks Two for Portable Alpha.
November 7, 2005... The $27 billion Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) has selected AQR Capital Management and Bridgewater Associates to split a $750 million portable alpha mandate during its Oct. 26 board meeting. The new allocation is a...

Montana Hires Consultant.
November 7, 2005... The $9.6 billion Montana Board of Investments has selected a new full retainer investment consultant, but the firm's identity will remain under cover until contracts are negotiated on Nov. 15. Carroll South, the board's executive director,...

Copper Jumps to Columbia Management.
November 7, 2005... Columbia Management, a subsidiary of Bank of America, has recruited Frederick Copper as head of its international equities team. Based in Boston, he will report directly to Colin Moore, head of active equity. Copper, who has more than 10...

Empire State Teachers Hire For Private Equity.
November 7, 2005... The board of the $84 billion New York State Teachers' Retirement System (NYSTRS) has authorized private equity investments with four firms. The plan has committed up to $50 million with Aisling Capital II; up to $100 million in Blackstone...

California Union Contemplates Opting Out of CalPERS.
November 7, 2005... California's Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) has negotiated a tentative contract with the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE), which, if approved by the 3,400 members of...

Benefits to be Had in Timberland Investments: Money Most Certainly Grows on Trees.
November 7, 2005... More and more institutional investors seeking to boost returns are looking into timberland investments, contends Tim Cayen director of new business at Hancock Timber Resource Group. "I think part of the reason why you're seeing interest is...

Wealth Management Would Improve Savings Rate: $30 Trillion in Assets Remain Untapped: Expert.
November 7, 2005... As the demand for unified managed accounts continues to grow at a brisk pace, the money management industry has an opportunity to improve the nation's savings rate, which is slower today than at any point in its history and threatens the future...

Odds & Ends.
November 7, 2005... * Rochdale Research issued a report that said the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) is going to need to be bailed out by taxpayers in about five years. Rochdale cites trouble in the automotive industry, and the Delphi bankruptcy...

Report: U.S. Pension Deficit Set to Expand.
November 14, 2005... A recent report by Aon Consulting indicated that the pension deficit for key U.S. companies is expected to reach $129 billion by the close of 2005, a number up from the 65% flast year. This is destined to happen if contributions to the...

Chicago Plan Places Two on Watch.
November 14, 2005... As first reported on IMW's Web site imweekly.com (11/8/05), the $10 billion Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago placed Fidelity Management Trust Company and J. & W. Seligman & Co. on watch for performance issues on...

St. Louis County Eyes Missouri Valley.
November 14, 2005... The $400 million St. Louis County Retirement System has placed Missouri Valley Partners (MVP) on watch for performance issues on a large-cap account of an undetermined size. Glenn Pearl, the plan's CFO, directed inquires to the plan's...

Firm's Growth May Not Hinder Performance.
November 14, 2005... Legg Mason's finalized purchase of the hedge fund-of-fund firm The Permal Group and the soon-to-be completed acquisition of Citigroup's asset management business would elevate the firm to the status of one of the largest "pure play" investment...

East Bay Utility to Review Int'l Equity.
November 14, 2005... The $742 million East Bay Municipal Utility District Employees' Retirement System will conduct a review of its international equity portfolio in early January 2006 and could consider implementing a 5% emerging markets allocation at the...

N.C. College Jumpstarts Search.
November 14, 2005... Isothermal Community College has launched a search for one or more managers to oversee its roughly $11 million Powers Endowment Scholarship Fund, said Stephen Matheny, VP of administrative services for the college. Matheny explained that...

Taft-Hartley Seeks Investment Consultant.
November 14, 2005... The $1.4 billion Service Employees International Union 32BJ Pension Fund-which represents workers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut-has issued an RFP for a general investment consultant. Full details of the consultant...

Houston's Bravest Eye Absolute Returns.
November 14, 2005... The $2.3 billion Houston Firefighters' Relief & Retirement Fund, in a move to diversify and enhance returns, is in the midst of a search for a manager to oversee an absolute return strategy. Christopher Gonzales, plan CIO, said that the...

Investment Council Selects Committee.
November 14, 2005... The Nebraska Investment Council-the entity that oversees the investment activities of the Nebraska Public Employees' Retirement System-has put together an internal search committee to jumpstart the hunt for a new state investment officer. ...

West Va. Restructures Int'l Equity Portfolio.
November 14, 2005... The $7.6 billion West Virginia Investment Management Board has jiggered with its international equity, a move that has ended with the termination of two managers and the hire of two others. "In September, we decided to go in a different...

Duluth Hires Two for Alternatives Portfolio.
November 14, 2005... The $288 million Duluth Teachers' Retirement Fund Association has hired PIMCO and Wellington Management Co. to oversee approximately $13 million in "real asset strategies," said J. Michael Stoffel, the Minnesota plan's executive secretary. He...

SamCERA Signs on With Fidelity.
November 14, 2005... The $1.7 billion San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association (SamCERA) has chosen Fidelity Management Trust Company to handle a $50 million domestic fixed-income enhanced index account. Fidelity was selected from a pool of three...

Short-Term VC Performance Gets A Boost During 2Q.
November 14, 2005... Ten venture-backed companies launched initial public offerings during the second quarter, boosting short-term venture capital performance, according to a study released last week by the National Venture Capital Association and industry...

Texas ERS to Invest in State Private Equity.
November 14, 2005... The $21 billion Texas Employees' Retirement System will commit to invest approximately $100 million in the Southwest Opportunity Fund (SOF), an off-shoot of the Texas Growth Fund (TGF), a state created private equity venture that has existed in...

Optimizers: A Mere First Step For Babson Small-Cap Strategies.
November 14, 2005... The proliferation of quantitative investment vehicles might seem to have made it easy to invest in small-cap stocks, but there are two difficulties. One is that most of those funds are already closed. The other is that for all the talk about...

Odds & Ends.
November 14, 2005... *Russell Investment Group has hired Julia Cormier as director of alternative investments for its U.S. institutional investor service. Cormier, most recently an alternative investments specialist at Goldman Sachs, will provide Russell's clients...

More $$ For DB Retirees.
November 21, 2005... The Senate has passed legislation that requires U.S. companies with traditional defined-benefit pensions to put more money aside for retirees. This occurred a day after the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), the federal body that guarantees...

Ohio 911 Launches Currency Manager Search.
November 21, 2005... The $9.6 billion Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) has issued an RFP for an active currency investment manager to oversee a $200 million account. David Graham, plan spokesman, explained that the search is another step toward the...

Review Team Reveals Ohio BWC Findings.
November 21, 2005... The misuse of soft dollars, investments in hedge funds without authorization and an exorbitant number of external investment managers within the portfolio were some of the findings of the Management Review Team's (MRT) assessment of the $14.3...

Montana PERB Gets Set For Legal Battle: Governor Schweitzer Files Suit.
November 21, 2005... Terry Teichrow's future as the executive director of the $4 billion Montana Public Employees' Retirement Board (PERB) remains uncertain. And if Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer gets his way, Teichrow may not be executive director at all. ...

Houston's Bravest Names New Director.
November 21, 2005... The $2.3 billion Houston Firefighter's Relief & Retirement Fund (HFR&R) has found a permanent replacement Max Patterson, the fund's executive director for the last eight years. Donny Myers, chairman of the plan's board for nine years, and...

LA Fire & Police Search For Consultant.
November 21, 2005... The board of the $11.5 billion Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System has given its approval to start the search process for a general consultant. Full details of the search could not be determined, as calls to Tom Lopez, plan CIO,...

CalPERS Selects Interim CIO.
November 21, 2005... Anne Stausboll will step in to fill Mark Anson's shoes as interim CIO for the $196 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System once his resignation becomes effective in January (See IMW, 10/31/05). The pension fund is expected...

N.H. Picks Consultant Finalists.
November 21, 2005... The $4.7 billion New Hampshire Retirement System dwindled its list of 13 consultant candidates to four finalists, according to the minutes of the plan's Nov. 8 meeting. The original search was launched in September (See IMW, 9/12/05) as part of...

ACERA Selects Value Finalists.
November 21, 2005... The $3.9 billion Alameda Country Employees' Retirement Association (ACERA) has compiled a short-list of finalists for its high alpha large-cap value search to replace the Pacific Financial Research, which was terminated last month (See IMW,...

Booming Business For Corporate Sleuths.
November 21, 2005... When the recent scandals surrounding Refco and Bayou broke, both investors and dealmakers got a sharp reminder of just how vulnerable they can be to fraud. The first question many observers asked was why obvious signs of mischief weren't picked...

Driehaus Rolls Out a Pair of Strategies.
November 21, 2005... High net-worth investors looking for a way to invest in high growth stocks globally, and in small-cap stocks domestically, have two new vehicles at their disposal, just opened up by Driehaus Capital Management. The Chicago-based firm,...

Odds & Ends.
November 21, 2005... *Babson Capital Management announced that Howard Hill joined the firm's Quantitative Management Group as a managing director. His responsibilities include creating new vehicles to attract third-party money for real estate and mortgage related...

New Treasurer Cleans House in New Mexico.
November 28, 2005... Doug Brown the newly appointed state treasurer for New Mexico, has begun his tenure by firing treasury staff affiliated with Robert Vigil. The former New Mexico State Treasurer, who resigned from the position earlier this month, was...

Survey: Consultant Usage Dropped in 05.
November 28, 2005... The use of investment consultants among plan sponsors with assets over $100 million dropped to 46.78% during 2005, from 47.11% in 2004 according to the Thomson Financial/ Nelson 2005 Pension Fund Consultant Survey. The drop is mainly a...

Consultant Search Underway for Indiana Teachers.
November 28, 2005... The $7.5 billion Indiana State Teachers' Retirement Fund has initiated an RFP for investment consulting services and could launch a full-blown asset study once the process is completed. "It was time to test the waters," said Robert Newland,...

Ohio BWC Drops Managers Without Prejudice: Dropped Manager Speaks.
November 28, 2005... In the aftermath of the mass manager terminations initiated by the $15.7 billion Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) board, at least one investment manager contends that the bureau should have spared the better performing managers in the...

Alaska Permanent Ups Alternatives.
November 28, 2005... The $31.7 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. increased its alternative investment allocation to 8% during its board meeting on Nov. 15. Michael Burns, executive director for the fund, could not be reached by press time. However,...

Oregon Treasury To Move Asset In House.
November 28, 2005... The Oregon State Treasury (OST) is looking into managing a portion of its portfolio in-house and has initiated an RFP for a consultant to undertake an operational review for an internally managed passive or enhanced-index equity investment...

N.H. Suspends Real Estate Manager.
November 28, 2005... The board of the $4.7 billion New Hampshire Retirement System has voted to suspend the discretionary investment management authority of the Townsend Group, pending a review of the relationship between the firm's investment consulting business...

Wilmington Trust Selects Ledyard.
November 28, 2005... Wilmington Trust has selected Benjamin Ledyard to fill the newly-created position of managing director and head of East Coast operations for the Wilmington Trust Family Office. Ledyard, who has been with the firm since 1998, has already...

Teichrow Out; Board Plans New Search.
November 28, 2005... The $4 billion Montana Public Employees' Retirement Board (MPERB) unanimously voted to rescind the contract offer that it made to Terry Teichrow in October to take over as executive director. The vote was cast during a Nov.21 meeting. The...

JPMorgan Fund Services Adds Private Equity Unit.
November 28, 2005... JPMorgan Worldwide Security Services, the fund services giant of New York-based JPMorgan Chase, has launched a new business unit that will offer a complete line of outsourced fund administration services to private equity firms and...

SEC Gives Itself High Marks for Enforcement.
November 28, 2005... The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued the "SEC 2005 Performance and Accountability Report," which is a synopsis of the organization's major accomplishments during this year and the challenges it faces in the future. Noted...

du Toit: Africa Poised for U.S. Investors.
November 28, 2005... For many U.S. institutional investors, the continent of Africa hardly registers a blip on the radar screen for global investing. But after years of instability and unrest in some regions, the Cradle of Civilization is on the brink of an...

Odds & Ends.
November 28, 2005... *Douglas Philips, president and CIO of Trusco Capital Management announced that he will retire on Dec. 31, after almost 32 years with the firm. Philips was on of the founders of Trusco, and has overseen the growth of the company from under $2...