Administration February 26, 2010

Ohio Fund Issues Two Investment RFPs

February 26, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Ohio Highway Patrol Retirement System has released two new requests for proposals (RFPs).
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According to a notice on its web site, HPRS is considering modifications to its investment portfolio through the selection of a Core Fixed Income manager, as well as an International Small Cap manager.  In both cases, HPRS says it is seeking to identify candidates that may complement its existing investments which, in the aggregate, are structured with the goal of “meeting or exceeding the system’s 8% actuarial rate of return without taking undue risks”.      

The two RFP s are a $50 million proposal for a Core Fixed Income assignment, and a $15 million Small Cap International bid.

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Regarding the fixed income assignment, HPRS says that the “product of interest should be a long only fixed income strategy that is benchmarked to the Barclays Capital Aggregate Index”.  Additionally, candidates must be a SEC-registered investment adviser; have at least $1 billion in assets under management and at least $500 million in the particular product being offered; and have at least 5 years in operation as a firm. 

As for the small cap international, HPRS says “the product of interest should be a long only International equity strategy focused exclusively on Small Cap names”.  According to its web site, the selected firm will also be a SEC-registered investment adviser; will have at least $500 million in assets under management and at least $200 million in the particular product being offered; and have at least 5 years in operation as a firm.

In both cases, respondents that may be classified as Ohio-based and/or minority/female-owned companies as defined by the Ohio Revised Code should indicate as such.  Qualified candidates electing to respond to the RFPs must submit their proposal electronically no later than March 12, 2010.

HPRS says that proposals must present the information in the order of the questions listed, and that responses longer 30 pages will not be considered.  Supporting materials may accompany the RFP as attached exhibits in a separate file.

More information – and copies of the RFPs are available online at https://www.ohprs.org/ohprs/Investments.jsp

Products February 26, 2010

Seven New Hedge Fund Indices Debut

February 26, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Greenwich Alternative Investments has announced the launch of seven new investable hedge fund indices.
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According to a press release, the new indices complement its existing lineup of actively managed, strategy-based investable indices, and were designed to “provide greater flexibility to investors who want to capture the performance of more specific hedge fund strategies”.      

“The new lineup of Greenwich Investable Indices gives investors a greater number of options in terms of both liquidity and hedge fund strategies to aid portfolio construction in the alternative investment space,” said Clint Binkley, Senior Vice President.  “They are specifically designed to capture the beta moves of investment strategies that are unique to the hedge fund asset class.”      

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The new additions to the Greenwich Investable Hedge Fund Indices will employ the same “rigorous inclusion criteria as the existing lineup,” according to the firm.  More information on the construction and calculation of the Greenwich Investable Hedge Fund Indices is available at http://www.greenwichai.com.

January Results

The Greenwich Composite Investable Hedge Fund Index outperformed the Greenwich Global Hedge Fund Index (GGHFI) in January, posting returns of -0.27% (monthly liquidity) and -0.41% (quarterly liquidity).  This compares to global equity returns in the S&P 500 Total Return -3.60%, MSCI World Equity -4.19%, and FTSE 100 -4.14% equity indices. The Greenwich Long-Short Equity Investable Index also posted exceptional results to begin 2010, gaining 0.27% despite broad-based declines in global equity indices. The GGHFI returned -1.04% in January.

The new Investable Event-Driven and Arbitrage Indices were the best performers of the month, gaining +0.62% and +0.73% respectively. The Long/Short Equity Investable Index advanced due to several managers who cut net exposure early in the month in response to monetary tightening in China and sovereign debt risk originating from a Greek fiscal crisis.

In the fixed income space, the Investable Long/Short Credit Index climbed +0.53% while the Investable Equity Market Neutral Index was nearly flat in its first month of performance, losing 7 basis points.  Directional trading funds trailed the rest of the hedge fund universe in January.  Managed Futures funds were the worst performers but the Greenwich Investable Futures Index declined a fraction of the Greenwich Global Futures Index (-1.60% compared to -3.09%).  The Greenwich Macro Investable Index also experienced a slight loss of -0.36%.

In addition to these new indices, Greenwich Alternative Investments also announced the launch of the publication of a monthly in-depth hedge fund strategy and market review, which can be found at http://www.greenwichai.com

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