Florida SBA | Pension360

Florida Pension Commits $200 Million to Apartments, Industrial Real Estate

The Florida State Board of Administration – the entity that manages the state’s pension assets – has invested $200 million in apartment buildings and industrial real estate in Chicago, Boston, Michigan and Florida, according to a report from Investments & Pensions Europe.

More details from IPE:

The four deals, closed through Heitman, will focus on the apartment and industrial sectors.

The pension fund is also considering three fund commitments worth a combined $213m but declined to provide further details.

Two industrial purchases, in markets not considered to be top tier, were bought for $43.9m and $29.1m, respectively.

The 672,000sqft Romeo industrial asset in Chicago and a 500,000sqft warehouse/industrial property in Denver were bought at $65 and $58 per sqft.

[…]

Florida also bought a 417-unit complex in a suburb north of Miami, paying $80.5m, or $193,000 a unit.

The fund also paid $59.4m for the Hannah Lofts student housing complex in East Lansing, Michigan, close to Michigan State University.

The Florida SBA manages $138.6 billion in pension assets.

Photo by Gwan Kho via Flickr CC License

Florida Pension Continues Search For Senior Fixed Income Manager

The Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), the entity that manages investments for the Florida Retirement Systems, has re-posted a job listing looking for a senior portfolio manager to manage fixed income investments.

The SBA appears to have increased the top range of the position’s potential salary, from $140,000 to $180,000. The job pays, at minimum, $120,000. The listing reads:

Responsibilities

50%. Research and analysis of economic and market information to support the Internal Fixed Income investment process. Shape the interest rate view and contribute relative value ideas. This will involve, but not be limited to; analyzing written publications and conversing with economists and strategist regarding individual country or global economic conditions and prospects, researching, understanding and explaining the implications of economic projections on the current structure of internal portfolios, researching, analyzing and presenting relative value opportunities for internal portfolios and constructing, explaining and presenting trade ideas to capture relative value opportunities.

25% Supervision of and backup for Portfolio Manager

10%. Preparation for and participation in weekly group strategy meeting.

15%. Assist the Sr. Investment Officer-Fixed Income with special projects and perform other duties as delegated.

Qualifications

(Re-advertisement – Previous applicants will be considered and need not re-apply)

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in computer science, MIS, accounting, finance, business, communication, public information, marketing, economics, mathematicis, statistics, or management and five years of related professional experience, three years of which must have been at a supervisory level or higher;

Or, a master’s degree or MBA from an accredited college or university and three years of related professional experience, two years of which must have been at a supervisory level or higher.

Professional related experience will substitute for the required college education.

Preference will be given to candidates with a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

The application period closes on October 10.

View the listing by clicking here.

Photo by Nathan Stephens via Flickr CC License

Pension Funds React, Weigh Next Move After Bond Guru’s Departure From PIMCO

Bill Gross, bond guru and co-founder of investment management firm PIMCO, has left the company. Gross’ is only the latest in a string of high-level departures from the firm.

Some wealth managers had exited PIMCO earlier this year after sensing that the “team was falling apart.”

But how are pension funds reacting?

Here’s CalPERS’ take, from Bloomberg:

The California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension, said it doesn’t have plans to change its investments with Pimco, according to an e-mailed statement today.

“Calpers has respect for both Bill Gross and Pimco investment professionals,” the pension system said. Calpers, which has about 1.5 percent, or $1 billion, of its fixed-income assets in a Pimco international bond fund.

New Mexico PERS isn’t ready to make any decisions, either. But the Florida SBA, the entity that manages investments for the state’s pension funds, is watching PIMCO closely. Bloomberg reports:

Jon Grabel, chief investment officer of the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, said it’s too early to make a decision about moving assets. Pimco manages about $725 million for the association in a separate account, Grabel said.

“One person may get the headlines, but one person doesn’t manage trillions of dollars,” he said.

The Florida State Board of Administration, which manages $147 billion in its Florida Retirement System Pension Plan, has been monitoring Pimco since El-Erian left. The fund has $1.9 billion invested in Pimco and nothing in Janus, said Dennis MacKee, a spokesman for the pension.

Pimco is on the system’s watch list, which isn’t a precursor to redemption, MacKee said. It means the board is looking closely at the funds’ performance and operations and will meet with consultants and investment staff to decide what to do, he said.

New York’s Common Fund and Indiana PERS are taking a similar approach: they’ve not yet moved on from PIMCO, but have placed the firm on a ‘watch list’, reports Bloomberg:

New York City’s five pension funds are evaluating the situation at Pimco, the New York City Office of the Comptroller said in an e-mailed statement. Total assets of the funds for firefighters, police officers, teachers, school administrators and civil servants is about $160.5 billion.

The $30.2 billion Indiana Public Retirement System said Pimco remains on its watch list and it’s monitoring developments, Jennifer Dunlap, a spokeswoman for the pension fund, said in an e-mailed statement. The retirement plan had put Pimco on its list in January.

Gross left PIMCO to take a job at Janus Capital Group Inc.

Gross said he wanted to take a job that allowed him to get closer to his original passion: trading bonds.