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Administration January 7, 2006
Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation Fires Asset Manager
July 13, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Bureau of
Workers' Compensation (BWC) of Ohio is ending its
relationship with Allegiant Asset Management Group due to
investment losses in a mutual fund, according to a BestWire
Services report.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
BWC has asked the institutional asset-management business to liquidate holdings in the large cap growth domestic equity fund that lost a total of $71 million. The news report said the bureau claims that about $60 million of the fund’s losses resulted from management decisions by Allegiant.
The BWC initially provided Allegiant with $250 million to manage in January of 2001, the report said. The company wrote off losses of about $50 million in 2002 and about $20 million in 2003, according Tina Kielmeyer, the BWC’s interim administrator . In April 2004, the BWC drew down its Allegiant account by $75 million, and in May 2005 it drew down the account by an additional $50 million, BestWire reports.
The report notes that as of May 31, the BWC has $1.17 billion in capital invested with 13 large cap value managers, with a market value of $1.25 billion. Kielmeyer said in a statement, “It’s imperative to emphasize that these losses have no impact on the value of the state insurance fund today.” The bureau’s State Insurance Fund is fully funded, with a value of about $14.3 billion, and is running a surplus, she said, according to BestWire.