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Odds & Ends

Odds & Ends - November 3, 2008

November 3, 2008 - * RREEF Alternative Investments has acquired a significant minority interest in long/short real estate investment advisor Rosen Real Estate Securities (RRES). As a combined entity, the firms plan to expand RRES' long/short platform and provide Deutsche Bank's institutional and high net worth clients with access to its strategies. RREEF is the global alternatives asset management division of Deutsche.

Odds & Ends - September 29, 2008

September 29, 2008 - * Thomas Gahan has joined Providence Equity Partners as president of the private equity firm's newly established capital markets group, where he will focus on debt in the media, entertainment, communications and information companies sectors. He will be based in New York. Prior to joining Providence, Gahan spent nine years with Deutsche Bank, most recently as CEO of Deutsche Bank Securities. Before his time at Deutsche Bank, he spent 11 years at Merrill Lynch, reaching the position of global head of credit trading in the fixed-income division.

Odds & Ends - September 22, 2008

September 22, 2008 - * Citadel Investment Group has named Tobias Gehrke and Anita Nassar managing directors and co-heads of international distribution and marketing for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Gehrke was head of the government institutions group in the European alternatives and equities business at Merrill Lynch, while Nassar was head of marketing to central banks and sovereign wealth funds for Merrill Lynch before joining Citadel.

Odds & Ends - September 8, 2008

September 8, 2008 - * Heidi Walker Pfabe has been appointed as a managing director at Coast Asset Management, where she will be responsible for the firm's international marketing and investor relations. Prior to joining Coast, Walker Pfabe was a managing director and head of global client relations at AIG Investments. Earlier, she held positions with Deutsche Asset Management, Zweig-DiMenna Associates, Citigroup Asset Management and Amerindo Investment Advisors.

Odds & Ends - August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008 - * Theodore Noon and Marlene Bonasera have returned to Acadian Asset Management after leaving the firm approximately two years ago. Noon returned after studying at Harvard University to the position of VP of sales, where he will focus on the endowment, foundation and insurance markets. Bonasera returns as VP of client service after two years with Morgan Stanley Investment Management's institutional advisory group as a VP.

Odds & Ends - August 18, 2008

August 18, 2008 - * Theodore Noon and Marlene Bonasera have returned to Acadian Asset Management after leaving the firm approximately two years ago. Noon returned after studying at Harvard University to the position of VP of sales, where he will focus on the endowment, foundation and insurance markets. Bonasera returns as VP of client service after two years with Morgan Stanley Investment Management's institutional advisory group as a VP.

Odds & Ends - August 11, 2008

August 11, 2008 - * John Burns has joined Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA) as a managing director in the firm's New York City office. Burns most recently served as director of public equity at the $70 billion North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS). Burns was responsible for the publicly traded equity and fixed-income portfolios with the $100 billion New York City Retirement Systems before joining NCRS.

Odds & Ends - August 4, 2008

August 4, 2008 - * Pamela Pharris has been chosen to serve as executive director of the $15.1 billion Georgia Employees' Retirement System (GERS). She replaces Michael Nehf, who left the position to head the $79.6 billion Ohio State Teachers Retirement System. Prior to joining the GERS, Pharris was a benefits plan consultant at Hewitt Associates. n Kristin Reynolds and Bryan Schneider have both been promoted to senior consultants with NEPC. Prior to joining NEPC in 2003, Reynolds worked at Smith Barney. Schneider joined the firm in 2000. He was previously a mathematics instructor. n MFC Global Investment Management has named Brian Torrisi managing director and head of U.S. consultant relations, where he will report to Frank Saeli, senior managing director and head of U.S. sales and relationship management with the firm. Torrisi was a partner and director of consultant relations at Lee Munder Capital Group before joining the firm. n Northern Trust has named Matt Severs head of consultant relations for its corporate and institutional services businesses in North America, a new position with the firm. Deanna Belczak , formerly the firm's U.S. product manager for cross-border pooling, has replaced Severs as division manager for cross-border pooled funds at the firm. n James Reilly, executive VP and portfolio manager, and P. Scott Wallace, senior VP and portfolio manager, at AllianceBernstein will serve as lead managers for roughly two-thirds of the firm's $4.8 billion Vanguard U.S. Growth Fund. They replace Alan Levi, senior VP and portfolio manager, who is retiring at the end of the year. n SEI has launched its new Screened World Equity Ex-U.S. Fund. The fund will invest in international equity in developed and emerging market countries, while excluding companies with ties to governments that support terrorism, genocide or human rights abuses. The fund will be actively managed and use a multi-manager approach in which different sub-advisors manage portions of the fund using different strategies. The fund will be benchmarked against the MSCI All County World Ex-U.S. Index adjusted for screens. n David McMahon Jr. has joined fixed-income hedge fund manager Aravali Partners as VP of institutional sales and business development, a new position with the firm. Prior to joining Aravali, McMahon was executive director of tax-exempt derivative sales and marketing at Morgan Stanley. n Rampart Investment Management has promoted Debbie Cancela and John Harrington to managing directors. Prior to their new roles, Cancela was senior VP, director of operations and chief compliance officer, while Harrington was executive VP and director of investments. Odds & Ends is a compilation of reported news from a variety of sources. The information in this section is assumed to be reliable, but all information should be confirmed, as IMW does not guarantee its accuracy.

Odds & Ends - July 28, 2008

July 28, 2008 - * According to the data in the Northern Trust Universe, the majority of U.S. institutional investors posted negative returns for the quarter ending June 30-the third negative quarter in a row for participating plans in the study. The data is compiled by Northern Trust and represents over 300 institutional investment plans. The findings revealed that corporate and public plans posted median returns of -0.7% for the quarter, with foundations and endowment plans performing better but still reporting negative median returns of -0.1% for the same period. For the one-year period, returns were even less impressive: medians of -53.1%, -4.3% and -3.1% for corporate funds, public funds and foundation and endowment funds, respectively.

Odds & Ends - July 21, 2008

July 21, 2008 - * San Francisco-based Progress Investment Management Company has announced that it completed a buyout in June of the 40% equity interest that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Retirement Fund (MBTARF) held in the firm, making Progress now a completely employee-owned business. Progress is a minority-owned firm that specializes in the creation of multi-manager strategies using emerging managers within the domestic and non-U.S. equities, fixed-income and private equity fund-of-funds asset classes. The firm manages approximately $7 billion in assets. The MBTARF held the 40% stake in the firm since June 2004.

Odds & Ends - July 14, 2008

July 14, 2008 - * UBS Global Asset Management has named Marcel Larochelle head of the firm's Canadian business, replacing Peter Clarke, who has left the firm. Larochelle will focus on developing and expanding UBS' relationships in Canada and joins from Mercer Investments, where he was head of the Americas investment management business. Ken Crotty and Rich Nuzum, global chief operating officer and global business leader for Mercer's global investment business, respectively, will take over Larochelle's duties with the firm.

Odds & Ends - June 30, 2008

June 30, 2008 - * Hedge Fund manager Chilton Investment Company has hired Francie Heller as managing director of client relations. In this role she will be responsible for providing investment solutions and support to CIOs and other leaders at large corporate and public plans. Heller joins from Bear Stearns where she was a senior managing director and head of the firm's pension, endowment and foundations services group.

Odds & Ends - May 12, 2008

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 Matthew Zuck as senior vice president and director of corporate development. Zuck will retain his duties as senior portfolio manager and analyst.

Odds & Ends - April 5, 2008

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.

Odds & Ends - April 28, 2008

April 28, 2008 - *Michael McCauley has been named as head of corporate governance with the $164 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS). McCauley was previously a senior corporate governance officer, director of administration for client services and corporate affairs and a research manager with the Florida State Board of Administration.