Products March 7, 2011

Commonfund Opens Atlanta Office

March 7, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Commonfund has announced the opening of its new office in Atlanta, located at 3340 Peachtree Road NE.
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The new office will serve existing nonprofit clients in the Southeast, while developing relationships in the pension field.  

“The opening of our office in Atlanta provides a focused capability to better serve our current southeastern nonprofit clients while positioning us for growth in new markets such as pension funds,” said Verne Sedlacek, President and CEO, Commonfund, in the announcement.  “It also allows us to be in closer proximity to the many Atlanta-based consultants that we partner with.”  

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Commonfund has identified strategic business opportunities in the Southeast based on several factors ranging from the rebound in endowment returns in the past year to anticipated demand for outsourced investment solutions as well as the overall volume of pension fund prospects that require investment solutions to increasingly complex investment challenges.  

The office will be shared by Commonfund Managing Directors Laurie Bagley and William Moore.  

Bagley brings 16 years of investment and consulting experience at Commonfund and 25 years in the investment industry.  A native of Atlanta, she holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.    

Moore is a three-year veteran of Commonfund, who was previously the Senior Manager responsible for Deloitte’s investment consulting practice in the Southeast.  

Commonfund, headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut, also serves clients through regional offices located in Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  International investment offices are located in London and Beijing.
Products March 7, 2011

State Street Launches Collateral Tracking Service

March 7, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - State Street Corporation announced the launch of a new Collateral Tracking service that helps asset managers and owners accurately assess and manage counterparty risk.
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Clients can now receive up-to-date reporting on the location and status of all collateral movements regardless of where the assets are held.   

According to the announcement, the Collateral Tracking service expands the traditional core custody function of acting on direction from the asset manager to move collateral, including cash or securities, in and out of an account. The enhanced service automates a previously manual process, which required asset owners to contact each broker or investment manager individually to determine the outstanding collateral at any point in time.   

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With the new service, clients can send their collateral instructions to State Street’s proprietary collateral tracking hub, which automatically initiates the process of tracking the status and location of all outstanding collateral. Additionally, the service’s fully customizable reporting allows clients to schedule reports to run systematically or upon request, using any combination of date range, advisor, client, counterparty, fund, or product type.   

“The Collateral Tracking service provides clients with settlement status updates and event monitoring information to increase transparency and mitigate counterparty risk exposure.” said Patrick Centanni, executive vice president and head of Global Product Management at State Street, in the announcement.  

“State Street’s new collateral tracking capabilities are a core component of our derivatives strategy, which is designed to address the unique challenges our clients face in the derivatives market today,” said Jeff Conway, executive vice president and head of Investment Manager Operations Servicing at State Street. “State Street’s derivative servicing suite now includes end-to-end OTC and exchange traded derivatives processing, collateral management, and independent valuations.”

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