Illinois pension system hires managers, updates watch list

TRS is the retirement system for public school teachers and administrators employed in all Illinois public schools except the city of Chicago.

At its October 28 and 29 meeting in Springfield, TRS said the Board of Trustees voted on the manager hires and reviewed the fund’s watch list.

Voyageur Asset Management has been hired to manage a US$430m large cap domestic equity mandate, Batterymatch Financial Management and Emerald Advisors have each been awarded US$166m small cap domestic equity growth briefs, and Byram Capital Management and Thompson, Siegal & Walmsley have won separate US$166m small cap domestic equity value mandates.

TRS said Callan Associates advised the fund on all five hires.

In addition to the new mandates, the fund allocated an additional US$200m to Payden & Rygel, an existing fixed income manager and an extra US$50m to Mazama Capital Management in a “small cap domestic equity growth assignment”.

Buyout fund DLJ Merchant Banking Partners IV were allocated US$100m while US$50m was committed to subordinated debt fund WCAS Capital Partners IV.

TRS kept a number of investment managers on its watch list, including Artisan Partners, which manages a US$380m international equity mandate, which had its status maintained for “performance and organisational reasons”.

Capital Guardian, manager of a US$600m international mandate and J & W Seligman, manager of a US$244m small-mid cap domestic equity growth mandate, were kept on the list for “performance reasons”.

INVESCO Global Asset Management, which manages a US$749m international equity brief, remained on the watch list for “performance reasons and organisational reasons following settlement of civil regulatory actions”, the fund said. In addition, Northern Trust Global Investments, manager of a total of US$1.5bn in four passive (index) funds was not removed due to “organisational reasons following the departure of three senior employees from its quantitative management division”.

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