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To: MSI who wrote (106)	2/20/2004 3:36:28 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Respond to of 1338

This is interesting, Milwaukee had a $900 million gain in their pension plan after they bounced Putnam, which was one of the first accused of fund market timing, so the story ties in nicely> City pension fund among nation's top earners Investments grew by $900 million last year By LARRY SANDLER Posted: Feb. 19, 2004 Milwaukee's city pension fund grew by nearly $900 million last year, a performance that ranks it among the best major public pension funds in the nation, city pension chief Anne Bahr said Thursday. Mercer Investment Consulting, the Pension Board's consultant, reported that the fund stood at $4.08 billion as of Dec. 31. That represented a return of more than 27%, or $899.2 million, Bahr noted. For the fourth quarter alone, the fund grew by $327 million, representing a return of almost 10%, Mercer reported. Domestic stock investments grew almost 13%, international stock investments grew more than 17%, and domestic fixed-income investments grew just under 2% in the quarter, Mercer said. Based on that performance, the city fund ranked in the top 10% of all public pension funds with more than $1 billion in assets, as measured by the Russell Mellon Universe of such funds, Bahr said. Bahr credited the growth to a combination of favorable stock market conditions, wise decisions on allocating assets among different types of investments and "really good, strong managers" who exceeded their goals. The Pension Board yanked about $300 million in investments from one fund manager that didn't make its goal, the embattled Putnam Investments, in December, Bahr said. Pension officials hired William Blair & Co. of Chicago to manage the fund's international stock holdings, formerly handled by Putnam, Mercer reported. Blair was picked over four other investment firms, including Milwaukee-based Artisan Funds. In November, a Pension Board committee had recommended pulling out of Boston-based Putnam as soon as a replacement could be found. That vote came after both of the Putnam money managers overseeing the pension fund's international holdings were forced out of their jobs amid federal and Massachusetts accusations of market timing. However, even before the charges were filed, the Pension Board staff and Mercer had raised concerns about Putnam's performance, which was well below leading indexes for international stocks.