Fund investments up at $445M

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Posted on Nov 25 2006
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The NMI Retirement Fund’s investment assets went up by $23 million in September this year compared to the same month last year.

Likewise, the September 2006 figure was $4 million more than the previous month, August, which had $441 million.

This growth is due to overall favorable market conditions, said Fund administrator Mark A. Aguon.

“The entire market was up. It would be a big surprise if we didn’t go up,” said Fund administrator Mark A. Aguon in an interview.

As of Sept. 30, the Fund’s investment assets totaled $444.8 million, or about 5 percent higher than the same month last year, which registered at $421.8 million.

These assets are currently placed in equities, 69 percent; fixed income, 22 percent; and alternative investments, 9 percent.

Ideally, the Fund wanted to place 65 percent of its assets in equities, 25 percent in fixed income, and 10 percent in alternative investments.

Data showed that as of Sept. 30 this year, actual assets in equities totaled $308 million; $96.6 million in fixed income; and $40.1 million in alternative investments.

The Fund has some $186 million in large capital equities, $60 million in small cap, and $61.6 million in international equities.

The money managers that handle these assets are Atalanta, Templeton, Renaissance, Stralem, Nicholas-Applegate, and Gabelli. Fixed income assets are handled by Richmond and IRM while alternative investments are managed by Sabre and JP Morgan. The money managers are supervised by Merrill Lynch, the Fund’s longtime financial consultant.

The Fund began to see substantial growth in investments about two years ago. In 2002, the Fund’s investment was reportedly at a record low of $226 million. It more than doubled in 2004 following changes in the Fund leadership as well as in investment strategies, which included the removal of some money managers.

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