Iowa PERS Places Equity Manager on Watch
April 3, 2007
The $22 billion Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) made an addition to its watch list at a March 30 meeting, said Karl Koch, interim CIO with the plan.
Koch said that RCM Capital Management was placed on watch for its large-cap growth U.S. equity account, which, according to Nelson's MarketPlaceWeb.com, consists of $737.5 million. He explained that the firm was watchlisted due to concerns about RCM's parent firm, Allianz Global Investors', continued commitment to the product.
This is not the first time that RCM has been in trouble with IPERS. The firm was placed on watch in 2003 for performance issues and were kept on the watch list for over two years (See IMW, 10/17/05).
Personnel with RCM declined to comment on the watchlisting, however.
Separately, IPERS made selections in its search for managers to oversee $2.3 billion in enhanced cash portable alpha mandates.
"The IPERS investment board has approved the hiring of Smith Breeden Associates, Western Asset Management Company and Westridge Capital Management to manage enhanced cash portable alpha mandates for the system," Koch said.
The origins of the search go as far back as September of 2006, when IPERS decided that it would issue three RFPs for different types of portable alpha strategies (See IMW, 9/25/06). The enhanced cash RFP was the first of these to be issued.
The second of the RFP's issued was for managers to oversee $400 million in global, multi-strategy, multi-asset class investments, which was issued in February (See IMW, 2/12/07).
"IPERS received two qualifying proposals in response to that RFP," Koch said. "One from Mellon Capital Management and one from First Quadrant. An evaluation committee is reviewing the proposals, and should have a recommendation for board consideration at the June 27 investment board meeting."
Wilshire Associates is the plan's consultant.
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