Deals and People January 5, 2001

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.
Reported by

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.

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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

By Pete Gallo, Editor PGallo@HedgeWorld.com

www.HedgeWorld.com

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Investing January 4, 2001

Participant Trading Spikes on Market Highs

January 4, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Participants in the Hewitt 401(k) Index ended the year on a quiet trading note, but started 2001 with a flurry of activity, with transaction levels about 2.5 times normal on January 3.
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That was the day of the surprise Fed rate decrease, and record 14.2% gain on the NASDAQ as US markets soared.  Participants moved into equities on a net basis on that day, likely buying at a relatively high point for the month, despite recent downturns.

Quiet December
 
In December there was only one “high” transaction day, December 5.  That was the day the NASDAQ notched a 10.5% gain, its largest ever at the time.  Participants headed for equities on a net basis, again likely buying at a relatively high point as the S&P 500 rose nearly 4%.  Major US stock indexes all registered gains of 3% or better that day.

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However, in December participants were moving to fixed income on 65% of the trading days, compared with just 30% in January 2000.  They moved into fixed income funds on a net basis on 61% of the trading days in November.

Equities continued to draw new investment, with 76% of December contributions flowing to stocks.  At year-end, 73% of total assets of the plans covered by the Hewitt 401(k) index were invested in stocks, identical with November’s allocation.

Slowing Down

There were 25 above average trading days in the first quarter, 17 in the second, 7 in the third and just 1 in the fourth quarter of 2000.
 
The Hewitt 401(k) index is based on data collected daily from 1.5 million 401(k) participants with approximately $68 billion in collective assets.

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