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Legendary John Templeton Dead at 95

July 8, 2008 – Sir John Templeton, founder of the Templeton Funds, now owned by Franklin Templeton Investments, and who first came to Wall Street in 1937, passed away today at the age of 95 from pneumonia in Nassau, Bahamas. Templeton, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1987 for his charitable works, launched his first global mutual fund, the Templeton Growth Fund, in 1954, 'when most people's concept of investing didn't extend beyond Wall Street,' as Franklin Templeton honors him on its Web site.…

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City of San Diego Seeks PE Advisor

July 7, 2008 – The San Diego City Employees' Retirement System (SDCERS) is searching for private equity advisors to assist the plan with maiden investments in the asset class. The search comes as a result of the board's recent decision to implement a 5% allocation to private equity (See IMW, 11/26/07 and 2/19/07).

Bursting with Energy

July 7, 2008 – MFC Global Investment Management's Roger Hamilton sure is bullish on energy stocks. The senior VP and portfolio manager of John Hancock's large-cap equity and balanced funds cites Southwest Energy Company as its best performing stock. MFC is a wholly owned subsidiary of John Hancock Financial Services.

NYC Board Of Ed Eyes Real Estate

July 7, 2008 – The City of New York Office of the Comptroller has hit the market for private equity real estate managers on behalf of the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (NYCBERS). According to the RFQ issued for the search, NYCBERS is looking for one or more managers to oversee $130 in private equity real estate investments through fund-of-funds, manager-of-managers, limited partnerships, open-end real estate funds and other investment vehicles. The plan wants to gain exposure to 'a diverse range of property types' through core and enhanced/opportunistic investments.

Ann Arbor to Go the Alternative Route

June 30, 2008 – After much back and forth on the issue, the $413 million Ann Arbor Employees' Retirement System will be allocating up to 10% of its total portfolio to alternative investments. According to recently released minutes of its May meeting, the Michigan plan approved the measure following years of education from its consultant Gray and Company. Just last May, Ann Arbor considered launching a foray into alternative investments (See IMW, 5/28/07).

Luzerne Seeks Consultant, Custodian

June 30, 2008 – The roughly $200 million Luzerne County Employees' Retirement & Trust has issued an RFP for a firm to provide investment advisory and custodial services. Proposals for the mandate are due Aug. 15. The fund currently uses Merrill Lynch Consulting Services Group as its investment advisor.

FGA Pushes Non-U.S. Equity Fund

June 23, 2008 – Franklin Global Advisers (FGA) is so proud of the performance record of its institutional non-U.S. equity strategy, which it has been running for years, that the manager decided to start offering the strategy to individual investors. The new fund, called the Franklin International Growth Fund, will apply exactly the same techniques and will mirror the same investment decisions of the institutional strategy, said Par Rostom, co-portfolio manager with Colleen Barbeau of both programs. 'We've got a five-year record of investing in non-U.S. equity for institutions, with $3 billion under management,' he said. 'We thought it made sense to have a similar strategy on the retail side.'

Tampa Fund To Seek Consultant

June 23, 2008 – The $617 million City of Tampa General Employees' Retirement Fund is gearing up to issue an investment consulting RFP, Paul Broughton, plan coordinator, told IMW last week. 'We're doing the search since one has not been formally done in a few years,' he said.

Ala. PACT Seeks Int'l Equity Managers

June 16, 2008 – The $702 million Alabama Prepaid College Tuition (PACT) Trust Fund is searching for international core or growth equity managers. According to the RFP, which was issued by the Office of the Alabama State Treasurer, the PACT fund is interested in hiring multiple firms for an expected five-year term. The managers will have the option of using emerging markets and the portfolios will be benchmarked against the MSCI EAFE index. The RFP states that the PACT fund currently has a 21% allocationor approximately $146 millionin international equity.

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