Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Investment Management Change topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pension board votes to replace Vontobel with MFS International Growth Fund
Summary
After a presentation on performance and manager characteristics, the board approved replacing Vontobel with the MFS International Growth Fund and directed staff to implement the change.
The pension board voted to replace Vontobel (referred to in the record as "Von Tobel") with the MFS International Growth Fund following a presentation by Tyler, the board's investment presenter. Tyler reported that the plan finished the quarter preliminarily at $143,960,750 and described MFS as having lower tracking error and a stronger information ratio than several concentrated managers under consideration.
Tyler said, "we ended this fiscal year on a pretty good note here," and walked trustees through quarterly returns, income and realized capital gains. Trustees questioned turnover, concentration and the risk of timing entry into a concentrated manager. One trustee moved, "I move that that the board, replace Von Tobel with the MFS International Growth Fund, as presented by Tyler," and a second followed. The board then voted in favor and the chair announced the motion passed.
The decision followed discussion of four finalists — GQG, Hartman Johnston, MFS and Bontobel — with trustees weighing the potential for outperformance from concentrated managers against the downside risk if timing was unfavorable. Tyler recommended MFS for its more consistent long-term performance and lower tracking error, and trustees said the allocation to the incoming manager will be monitored and reported at future meetings.
The board did not record a full roll-call vote in the transcript; the motion and the affirmative vote were announced verbally. Implementation tasks discussed included finalizing the transfer and monitoring near-term performance and overlap with existing value managers.
