June 1, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) Chances are if you've
exercised stock options, you've been bitten -- and bitten
hard -- by the alternative minimum tax (AMT). But now there's
a new resource for AMT "victims."
While the AMT’s tax on stock options was originally
targeted at upper management executives, the growing
practice of awarding stock options to workers at all pay
levels has swollen the ranks of the impacted.
Unlike other stock transactions, the AMT taxes you on
“phantom” gains based on what the stock was worth at the
time you acquired it, not what it may be worth when you
actually sell it.
CalPERS' Boldt Named Managing Director of Pivotal's
Cross-Over Fund
January 5, 2001 (HedgeWorld.com) - Bob Boldt, a
former senior investment officer for the California Public
Employees' Retirement System, has joined San Francisco-based
Pivotal Asset Management, a $750 million money manager that
oversees a cross-over hedge fund that invests both in public
and private companies.
Mr. Boldt will manage investments and raise capital. He
will work alongside Pivotal’s two general partners, Ralph
Cechettini and Christopher Lord.
Pivotal was instrumental in the acceptance of hedge fund
investments by plan sponsors. In August 1999, the CalPERS
board committed $300 million to the technology-focused
Pivotal Partners fund, marking the pension plan’s first foray
into hedge funds.
There was contention at the time as to whether CalPERS
would take an equity stake in the the firm. But soon after,
CalPERS earmarked $100 million in tech-focused Thomas Weisel
Capital Partners and $50 million in Solera Capital, which
targets the Internet, technology sectors, consumer goods and
healthcare.
As a senior investment officer for CalPERS since 1996, Mr.
Boldt helped oversee global fixed-income and equity
investments. With $170 billion in assets, Sacramento,
Calif.-based CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension
fund. Mr. Boldt also was involved in allocating to external
managers. This included hybrid investment vehicles such as
hedge funds, according to spokesman Brad Pacheco.
Before joining CalPERS, Mr. Boldt was a vice president at
Fisher Investments, a private investment firm. He has also
been a portfolio manager for Scudder, Stevens & Clark,
working out of its San Francisco office and overseeing some
$300 million in client assets.
After his departure from CalPERS, Mr. Boldt’s post was
split in two with Curtis Ishii taking over fixed income and
Mark Anson, formerly with Oppenheimer Funds, taking over
equities.
Although Pivotal runs a hedge fund, it also acts as a
venture capital firm, investing in companies before their
initial public offering. For instance, Pivotal last year
invested in Keen.com, a privately held company that has
raised some $109 million in venture funding.
Past holdings in the Pivotal portfolio have included Kana
Communications, PlanetRX.com, FreeMarkets Inc., Niku Corp.,
Scient Corp., Snowball.com, Vignette Corp. and Quakka Sports
Inc