Products August 17, 2004

Fidelity Pulls RK Together For UC

August 17, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fidelity Investments has been tapped to become the sole administrator for the University of California's $9.5 billion retirement plans.
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The deal marks the first time a public university system will retain one provider to serve as master recordkeeper across a multi-vendor retirement program, according to Fidelity.   The UC, the ‘s largest employer, currently has 260,000 participants, both employed and retired, in its programs.  

“This new master recordkeeper model allows us to improve member services and helps us better position ourselves to meet future needs, while also ensuring that we continue to meet our fiduciary oversight responsibilities,” said Judy Boyette, vice president of human resources and benefits at the University of California in a press release. 

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“We were limited in our ability to satisfy members’ requests for increased retirement investment services because our systems were at maximum capacity,” she added.

The University of California system spans 10 campuses, five medical centers and three national laboratories. In addition to consolidating plan information and other benefits, Fidelity will provide investment education to the plan participants.

Investing August 16, 2004

CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index Falls in July

August 16, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index fell 0.31% in July, according to Credit Suisse First Boston Tremont news release. Although this month's returns are less than stellar, the index is still up 2.61% on the year.
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Dedicated short bias was the July’s top performer, gaining 8.12% for the month. “While the US experienced substantial volatility among the segments of its equity markets, short biased funds were poised for outperformance. Short sellers were in an ideal position to take advantage of the market’s shift away from lower quality and distressed companies in July, as the month was characterized by lower volumes during the start of the second quarter earnings seasons,” said Oliver Schupp, President of Credit Suisse First Boston Tremont Index LLC, in the release.

The CSFB/Tremont Hedge Fund Index is comprised of 401 funds as of July 1, 2004.

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Today’s release also indicated that CSFB/Tremont Investable Hedge Fund Index is down 0.12% net in July. Once again, dedicated short bias proved to be considerably stronger than the other 10 style-based indices that CSFB/Tremont Investable Hedge Fund Index covers, bringing in a 5.56% gain for the month. “The short sellers produced strong returns in July in a market environment that began to show a marked difference between the stronger and the weaker companies,” stated Schupp.

The CSFB/Tremont Investable Hedge Fund Index was launched with 60 funds across 10 style-based sectors.    The Investable Index, set at 100 on August 1, 2003 with aggregate assets under management representing approximately $55 billion, is the industry’s largest investable index.  

Further information and statistics for past months can be found at www.hedgeindex.com .

-Kip McDaniel

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