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.

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editors@plansponsor.com

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