CalPERS Seeks New Consultants

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), with nearly $230 billion in assets, has issued an RFP to refresh its spring-fed pool of general investment consultants. According to the RFP, the new consultants may be asked to provide assistance with primary consulting services, such as asset allocation strategy, general portfolio management, and investment policies, and also may also be tapped to provide advice and assistance in areas like private equity, hedge funds, absolute return, and other specialized asset classes. “CalPERS adds firms to the pool in order to meet the changing needs of the investment program,” says Clark McKinley, spokesperson for the plan. “This is pretty routine for our spring-fed pools. We’ve been using such pools across our asset classes and for the general investment program in recent years because they allow us great flexibility in responding to market developments and opportunities.” McKinley notes that the plan’s current general consultants are Frank Russell Co., Pension Consulting Alliance, R.V. Kuhns & Associates, and Strategic Investment Solutions. The number of firms added to the pool depends on the quality of those that submit proposals, McKinley says, adding that there is no set number that the board wants to recruit. According to the RFP, CalPERS currently has $148.2 billion invested in equities, $51.6 billion in global fixed-income securities, $16.7 billion in real estate, $12.2 billion in alternative investments, and $1.2 billion in cash equivalents. The board expects to select finalists by February 20. (c) 2007 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com