Deals and People May 21, 2003

TSP Taps Amelio as New Chief

May 21, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The pension fund for federal employees has tapped a new executive director, capping a five-month nationwide search.
Reported by

Andrew Saul, chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, said that Gary Amelio was named to run the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).

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Previously, Amelio served as senior vice president and Managing Director of the Retirement and Investment Services Department of PNC Bank. In that role, Amelio had responsibility for 3,000 client relationships representing $40 billion in trust assets and managed a variety of departments with 120 employees.

Before that, Amelio served in a series of positions at Mellon Bank, including as an assistant vice president. Amelio earned a BA from the University of Pittsburgh College of Arts and Sciences in 1978 and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1981.

The TSP has been plagued in recent months by continuing troubles in getting a new recordkeeping system up and running to allow it offer daily valuation. Because of the computer mess, a General Accounting Office report recently urged lawmakers to pay closer attention to the pension fund’s issues (See GAO to Congress: Keep Better Track of Federal Retirement Plan ).

As of April 30, 2003, TSP assets totaled approximately $109 billion, and retirement savings accounts were being maintained for more than three million TSP participants. Participants include federal civilian employees in all branches of government, employees of the US Postal Service, and members of the uniformed services. For more information, go to www.tsp.gov .

Investing May 20, 2003

Large-Cap US Value Funds Enjoy Market Hey Day

May 20, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Domestic large-cap value funds are becoming the cat's meow as a still-developing broad market recovery pushed up industrial giants like General Electric Co., Citigroup Inc., and Xerox Corp.
Reported by

While these funds – one of the most popular types of mutual funds among US investors – are up an average 14.9% over the past three months, that still trails the average diversified US stock fund’s 16.2%-increase during the same period, according to a Reuters report.   Large-company value managers say they see still more growth potential as corporate earnings are expected to improve and company cost-cutting measures take hold.

The best performer for the three months, based on funds with at least $100 million in assets, was the Neuberger Guardian fund, which exploded by   21.5%, according to Lipper data.

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The biggest fund in the category is the $48.2-billion American Funds Washington Mutual fund, according to Lipper. The fund was up 14.3% over the past three months.   Another big fund is the $11-billion Lord Abbett Affiliated fund which gained 16.5% in the three-month span, according to Lipper.

Robert Morris, director of equity investments for Lord Abbett, said the Affiliated Fund benefited from gains in companies such as Apple Computer Inc. which is up about 26.3% year-to-date through Monday and Xerox, up 29.2%.   “We’ve seen nice bounces in some selected technology stocks,” he told Reuters. “We are trying to find companies within the technology sectors that look live they’ve been overdone.”

Fund managers say that, after a rough 2002, when the average large-cap value fund fell about 20%, they are seeing a rebound in many stocks that had been hit hard.

Large-cap value funds have about $181.9 billion in combined assets, making them one of the largest types of US stock funds. Their price-conscious managers look for stocks that are considered cheap based on price-to-earnings ratios or other measures, or whose prices have been knocked down based on worries about restructuring or other issues.

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