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ATRS Taps Putnam Replacement Managers
Monday, the ATRS board hired Capital Guardian Trust
Co. of Los Angeles and Boston-based Wellington Asset
Management LLC to run part of the system’s international
stock portfolio, which represents about $1 billion of the
$7.2-billion fund, according to a report from the
Arkansas News Bureau. In early November, the ATRS board
fired Putnam, which had more than $524 million in
international stocks for the state’s largest pension fund
(See
Angelides to CA
Funds: Dump Putnam Now
).
The selection of the two investment firms was made on the
recommendation of the system’s investment adviser,
Chicago-based Ennis, Knupp & Associates, said ATRS
Executive Director David Malone. Ennis Knupp advised the
board on November 4 to terminate its relationship with
Putnam.
In fact, the ATRS board of trustees called a
special meeting last month after Putnam’s CEO, Lawrence
Lasser, was forced to resign (See
Trading Probes
Muscle Out Strong, Putnam Chiefs
), and three New York City pension plans with combined
total assets of $725 million pulled their holdings from
Putnam.
Putnam is the subject of several investigations of fraud
by state and federal regulators on the practice of market
timing trading. Since then, a number of pension funds
across the nation have withdrawn more than $32 billion
from Putnam’s coffers. The withdrawals represent about
12% of the scandal-ridden mutual fund firm’s total assets
(See
Putnam Scandal
Outflows Continue
).
Currently, Capital Guardian has over $120 billion in
assets under management and serves more than 40 of the
nation’s 100 largest corporate and public-employee
pension plans. Wellington Management has more than 70
years of investment management experience and currently
manages $303 billion in assets as of March 31,
2003.