City's pension system hires new managers

The City of Philadelphia's pension system hired some new money managers at its regular board of trustees meeting Tuesday, awarding mandates to a number of investment firms, some known locally and others nationally.

Pending completion of their contracts, the Board of Pensions and Retirement awarded new mandates to the following active managers in fixed-income, and domestic- and international-equity sectors:

In domestic equity (small, mid-, and large capitalization), Brandywine, Lyrical, Hahn, Herndon, GW, and Apex received commitments of money from the city. For fixed-income, Longfellow, Logan Circle Partners of Philadelphia, and GW were also awarded mandates. For international, Cheswold Lane Asset Management of Conshohocken was awarded an investment mandate.

The total amount of commitments awarded was $290 million, with allocations ranging from $15 million to $50 million per manager. Additional international managers are expected to be considered at the board's July 24 meeting, said Brad Woolworth, deputy chief investment officer.

Sumit Handa, the pension's chief investment officer and architect of Philadelphia's new-look portfolio, is continuing to weed out underperformers and replace them with money managers with better long-term records. Under Handa, the $4.8 billion pension system has narrowed the gap by which its investment performance lags its profit benchmarks.

As of March 31 performance figures, the city's Municipal Pension Fund returned, net of fees, 11.9 percent in the one-year period and 8.34 percent over three years, beating its benchmark in both cases.