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FCERA Terminates Artisan, Wraps TIPS Search

November 7, 2008 - The Fresno County Employees' Retirement Association (FCERA) has terminated small-cap equity manager Artisan Partners, said Roberto Pena, administrator of the $2.7 billion California plan. Artisan had been in trouble with the plan for quite some time due to poor performance and personnel changes and had been on FCERA's watch list since the beginning of the year (See IMW, 11/19/07 and 9/15/08). The manager oversaw a roughly $55 million mandate. The board first discussed terminating the firm at…

Tulare County Shakes Off Sterling

November 6, 2008 - The Tulare County Employees' Retirement Association (TCERA) has removed Sterling Capital Management from the nearly $80 million small-to-mid-cap value portfolio that it managed for the plan. David Kehler, administrator of the $1 billion California plan, said that the firm was terminated for performance issues. Officials at Sterling did not return calls seeking comment by press time. Kehler said that the plan would likely conduct a search to replace Sterling after the first of next year. Summit…

Maryland Worker’s Comp Fund to Add Emerging Managers

November 4, 2008 - The Injured Workers Insurance Fund (IWIF) is searching for emerging investment managers. The IWIF covers worker's compensation for the state of Maryland. Robert Merritt, executive VP and CIO at the $1.6 billion fund, explained that the search is being conducted because the IWIF is interested in working with emerging managers based in Maryland. He noted that a second RFP for emerging management firms based outside of Maryland would be issued at a later time. The fund…

GTAA, Equity and Timber on the Way for New Mexico Plan

October 29, 2008 - The $7 billion New Mexico Educational Retirement Board is gearing up to contact managers regarding global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) strategies, said Bob Jacksha, CIO at the fund. 'We will be issuing an RFI rather than a RFP,' he said. 'It will be on a more limited scope. There are not many players in the space.' …

St. Paul Teachers’ Up the Stakes on Int’l Equity

October 28, 2008 - The St. Paul Teachers' Retirement Fund Association will make a slight increase to its international stock portfolio at the expense of its domestic equity allocation, said Phil Kapler, executive director at the Minnesota plan. He said the fund would be shifting 3% from domestic equity to international equity, bringing its allocation to foreign stocks to 28%. …

New Hampshire Plan Kick Starts Equity Search

October 14, 2008 - The board of the Manchester Employees' Contributory Retirement System (MECRS) is conducting a short-list search for small to mid-cap equity managers, said Gerard Fluery, executive director at the $150 million New Hampshire plan. Fluery explained that MECRS currently does not invest in small-cap equity, but wanted to create an allocation in the asset class. He noted that the plan's consultant, NEPC, will assist with the search. The board is not expected to interview potential managers…

Boise Endowment Fund to Pursue Mid-Cap Manager

October 8, 2008 - The $1.1 billion Idaho Endowment Fund Investment Board (EFIB) is making arrangements to launch a search for a domestic equity mid-cap growth manager, Larry Johnson, manager of investments at the plan told IMW, following its recent board meeting. Johnson said that along with consultant Callan Associates, the EFIB will look for a firm to oversee a roughly $50 million active mandate. The board hopes to have a manager in place by year-end, he said. The Boise fund…

San Diego City to Monitor Putnam

September 24, 2008 - The impending departure of Putnam's Head of Investments Kevin Cronin has already prompted one fund to place the manager on its watch list. The San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) will be monitoring the firm and its small-cap growth mandate, Liza Cristafi, deputy CIO at the plan, told IMW today. 'We have been in meetings with our consultant and we both agreed that Putnam Investments should be on watch for organizational concerns,' Cristafi explained. The manager oversees…

SamCERA Moves Forward With Searches

September 24, 2008 - The San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association (SamCERA) is prepping a large-cap domestic growth equity search, which will be launched next month, said David Bailey, CEO of the $2.2 billion California plan. Bailey also told IMW that the board has whittled down its search for a 130/30 manager to a list of nine semi-finalist firms, who will now receive RFPs. He declined to name the firms under consideration, however. The portfolio sizes for both mandates…

NYLIM Being Considered for Tulare Mandate

August 19, 2008 - New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM) has rejoined the search for an enhanced index manager at the Tulare County Employees' Retirement Association (TCERA), said Dave Kehler, administrator at the $1 billion fund. 'We're in the midst of a manager search for enhanced index managers,' Kehler said. 'The board has added NYLIM back to the list of finalists after receiving a presentation from the manager.' …

Dallas Hospital System Seeks Equity Manager

August 5, 2008 - The Parkland Health & Hospital System has issued an RFP for a manager to oversee the plan's approximately $25 million large-cap growth domestic equity portfolio. The fund oversees the pension system for the Dallas County Hospital District. According to Nelson's MarketPlaceWeb.com, the $320 million Parkland system has a 22% allocation to domestic equity. The rest of the plan's asset allocation consists of 69% domestic fixed-income and 9% cash. …

Haverhill R.S. Hires for Small-Cap

July 29, 2008 - The Haverhill Retirement System has selected Putnam Investments to manage an $8.5 million small-cap growth mandate, confirmed Kathleen Gallant, administrator at the $174.9 million fund. Gallant referred all questions regarding the hire to Gus Aristizabal, the plan's consultant with Wainwright Investment Counsel, who assisted with the search. He did not return calls by press time, however. …

CalSTRS Loses Global Equities Head

June 24, 2008 - Eileen Okada will retire from her post as director of global equities at the $170 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) on Nov. 1. According to the fund's Web site, Okada had been on leave since March 28. She joined CalSTRS 36 years ago as an accountant. In the meantime, the plan's CIO Christopher Ailman will oversee the roughly $100 billion portfolio, which encompasses both U.S. and global equity. EFL Associates has been retained by the Sacramento…

City of Knoxville Creates New Allocations

June 18, 2008 - The $540 million City of Knoxville Pension Board will meet with consultant Dan Holmes of Summit Strategies next month to discuss ways to implement recently approved allocations, said Mike Cherry, executive director at the fund. Following the results of an asset/liability study, the plan decided to carve out allocations of 11% to portable alpha, 5.5% each to emerging markets equity and international small-cap equity and 5% each to private energy and private equity, Cherry said. Within…

Texas Plan to Add CIO Role

May 28, 2008 - The $1.7 billion City of Austin Employees' Retirement System (COAERS) will soon hire its first-ever CIO at the plan, said Stephen Edmonds, executive director at the plan. Edmonds explained that the board plans to conduct a search for the new position, however the details and timing of the search have yet to be completely finalized. According to the most recent financial summary on the plan's Web site, COAERS' asset allocation consists of 15.53% non-large-cap domestic stocks,…