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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.

California PERS Kick Starts CIO Search

August 18, 2008 - The search is on for a permanent replacement for Russell Read as CIO of the $230 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Read left the fund in June after nearly two years in the position (See IMW, 4/28/08).

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.

Casey Quirk Picks Up Putnam Lovell's Phillips

August 11, 2008 - Ben Phillips has stepped down from his post as partner and director of research at Jeffries Putnam Lovell, to join Casey Quirk & Associates. He will be responsible for managing and expanding the firm's research operations and overseeing its white papers, Casey Quirk said in a published statement.

Purdue Loses Investment Pro To Arizona State

August 11, 2008 - Arizona State University (ASU) has hired Morgan Olsen to serve as its new executive VP and treasurer, it was announced last week. Olsen will join ASU from Purdue University where he held the same titles. During his time at Purdue, Olsen spearheaded the investment efforts for its $1.8 billion endowment fund and is credited with diversifying the university's portfolio. A source at Purdue said that a replacement has not been named for Olsen, but a search is expected to occur.

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.

At Press Time: Bear Stearns CEO to Leave JPMorgan

August 4, 2008 - Alan Schwartz will leave JPMorgan Chase at the end of the summer, according to published reports. He has been with JPMorgan without a definite position since the firm acquired Bear Stearns in March, helping to oversee the integration of Bear Stearns into JPMorgan. Schwartz had been with Bear Stearns since 1976, and eventually became the firm's CEO prior to the acquisition. Speculation on Schwartz future plans vary, including talk of his starting a new boutique investment shop or joining an existing firm in some capacity.

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.

Invesco Makes Addition to Quant Team

July 14, 2008 - Andrew Waisburd has joined Invesco as a quantitative research analyst, said spokesman Bill Hensel. Based in Boston, he will be a part of Invesco Quantitative Strategies (IQS), and report to Anthony Shufflebotham, head of U.S. research for the unit.

NTGI Hires for Large-Cap Equity Team

July 14, 2008 - Northern Trust has hired George Maris as a senior VP and senior portfolio manager for Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI). Maris will work on NTGI's large-cap core strategy.

Odds & Ends - July 7, 2008

July 7, 2008 - * Ohio State University has hired Jonathan Hook as its first ever CIO, where he will also hold the title of VP and be responsible for the school's $2.2 billion in long-term investments. Hook previously served as CIO and associate VP at Baylor University for seven years, where he directed the investments of the university's $1.1 billion endowment.

At Press Time: CalPERS Loses Corporate Governance Head

July 7, 2008 - Dennis Johnson is leaving his role as director of corporate governance at the $235.6 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) after three years in the position. He was responsible for the plan's $7 billion corporate governance investment program and led a 17 person corporate governance team. He is joining Shamrock Holdings' Activist Value Fund as a managing director.