I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The pension and investment world is paying attention to the New Mexico State Investment Council’s decision last week to fire managers as part of the agency’s response to recent events.
Pensions & Investments trade journal noted this week that the Council had terminated active equity managers responsible for running a “combined $1.013 billion” for performance reasons.
The journal named the terminated managers as Beekman Capital Management, Carret Asset Management; and Simms Capital Management $242 million, the journal reported.
Also terminated was hedge fund-of-funds manager EIM USA, which handled $112 million, the journal said quoted Council spokesman Charles Wollmann said. EIM was terminated over personnel issues, the journal said.
As the Independent reported last week, the State Investment Council struck out in a new direction at its last meeting. In addition to agreeing to try to recover money lost due to potential fraud, the Council voted to reduce the percentage of its $14.1 billion portfolio invested in the stock market, from above 60 percent to around 55 percent.
At more than 60 percent, the Council’s exposure to public equity – or the stock market – put it in the Top 10 percent of endowments, the Council was told last week. The portfolio had too much exposure to public equity – stocks – and that is what the Council corrected last week.
It was at last week’s meeting that the council voted to fire the four firms mentioned in the Pensions & Investments story .
“Some were performance related,” State Investment Officer Steven Moise told the Independent. “Some were changes in personnel. And there were other concerns.”
