For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANSPONSOR NEWSDash daily newsletter.
Administration September 27, 2006
SD County Pension Nearly Doubles Loss Estimate from Amaranth Collapse
September 27, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Officials for
the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association have
increased their estimate of losses due to the collapse of
Amaranth Advisors from $45 million to $87 million.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
A report on 10News.com said Amaranth increased its own loss estimate to 55% during a teleconference last week. Initial news of its collapse based on bad wagers on natural gas prices reported a loss of 35% (See San Diego Retirement Fund to Feel Hit from Hedge Fund Collapse ).
“Using that loss figure, and applying it to our $175 million, we figure we lost about $87 million of that,” Brian White, executive director of the pension fund, told the North County Times, according to the 10News report. The $175 million that the pension association invested in the hedge fund firm represented less than 3% of the fund’s total assets.
Pension fund officials and investment counselors said the estimated loss will not hurt the fund’s beneficiaries.