PERS Mississippi hears fixed‑income manager presentations from Loomis Sayles, Manulife, PIMCO and PGIM

The Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi’s investment committee convened for manager presentations from Loomis Sayles, Manulife Investment Management, PIMCO and PGIM, hearing results, strategy positioning and market outlooks for the system’s fixed‑income allocation.

The meeting opened with staff noting fixed income represents a little more than 20% of the overall plan and the four managers presenting represent roughly half of that sleeve, or about 10% of the defined‑benefit portfolio. David Dwire, who oversees the public fixed‑income and private credit portfolios for PERS Mississippi, said the managers’ 12‑month returns were “all in excess of 12%,” with one manager above 13%.

Loomis Sayles: firm update, attribution and scenario planning Matt Buxton of Loomis Sayles described firm‑level growth and team stability, reporting recent net inflows and a firm AUM figure the presenters cited around $388 billion. Co‑portfolio manager Rick Hruskowski said the strategy’s outperformance over the past year was driven by an overweight to duration and favorable spread sector exposure, including securitized credit and investment‑grade corporates. Hruskowski presented a three‑scenario framework for markets — a base‑case “soft landing” (about a 60% probability), a higher‑for‑longer rates outcome, and a growth‑scare scenario — and said the team is positioning the strategy toward higher quality, greater liquidity and modestly longer duration “to take advantage of rates that we think are coming down.” When asked to clarify the ‘core plus’ mandate, Loomis said the team may use up to 20% below‑investment‑grade, hold bank loans (up to 10% in a senior loan fund), and maintain a small non‑US exposure (about 5%) but does not regularly hold triple‑C securities without prior approval.

Manulife Investment Management: team promotions and curve positioning Amy McPike and portfolio manager Connor Menar told the committee Manulife has grown its asset base and recently promoted several team members. Menar said the strategy keeps overall duration close to the benchmark while positioning on the shape of the yield curve, favoring duration concentrated in the 5‑ to 7‑year part of the curve. He described agency mortgage‑backed securities as an attractive, defensive opportunity and said valuations in many corporate spread markets are rich, prompting a defensive posture in those sectors.

PIMCO: performance and defensive tilt PIMCO presenters noted a long partnership with PERS Mississippi and reported strong recent performance: the strategy returned about 12.93% over the 12 months ending Sept. 30 versus a benchmark return of about 11.57%, equivalent to roughly 136 basis points of outperformance gross of fees. PIMCO’s Vinayak (lead portfolio manager) characterized the U.S. economy as resilient and said that, although the Fed has begun easing, long‑term yields had risen; the firm prefers higher‑quality government and agency holdings, inflation‑protected securities (TIPS) and shorter‑dated maturities where appropriate, while remaining cautious on corporate spread exposure because spreads appear historically tight.

PGIM: core‑plus mandate and performance contributors PGIM said its core‑plus mandate aims for a long‑run gross excess return target of about 150 basis points. Tyler Thorn reviewed attribution for the year, noting strong returns across credit markets and a particularly sizeable contribution from high‑quality CMBS. PGIM said it has taken limited duration risk and is currently using shorter maturities within credit exposure while monitoring spread levels.

Staff updates and watchlist note In miscellaneous updates, staff announced several internal promotions and role changes among managers and consultants. They also noted that TD Bank was recently fined about $3,000,000,000 for shortcomings tied to anti‑money‑laundering monitoring, and that Epic (an investment manager purchased by TD) remains on the plan’s watchlist for separate reasons. Staff characterized those items as not directly affecting the plan’s current asset management arrangements.

What’s next There were no formal votes recorded during the session; the committee recessed for a brief break and planned to reconvene to continue agenda business. The presentations and managers’ slide decks remain part of the meeting record for further review by staff and committee members.