The Iowa Regents Board, based off of a recent RFI inquiry substantiated by investment consultant Wilshire Associates, is assigned to vote on a money market mutual fund recommendation this week.
According to the action item, the board that manages funds for the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa is slated to vote on its future money market mutual fund investment options at the Feb. 6-7 meeting.
In the Audit/Compliance and Investment Committee meeting materials, Board Chief Business Officer Patrice Sayre lists in the recommendation that “having multiple money market options from which to choose will provide flexibility to these institutions.” All three investment programs reportedly have allocations to such strategies.
Wilshire Associates pursued an RFI in order to gather information from institutional investment management firms.
The breakdown of responses included considerations paid to “aspects of the firm and investment team as well as the approach to fund management and risk management.” Funds’ focus included “Prime, Government and Treasury categories.”
However, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based review stated that a specific focus was “placed on Prime funds which generally represent the broadest reflection of the investment manager’s management approach and greatest exposure to certain key factors such as credit risk,” the recommendation said.
The suggested 29 strategies, 13 of which were for prime money mutual funds, include offerings from BlackRock, Dreyfus, a BNY Mellon Company, Federated Investors, Vanguard, JP Morgan, State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Wells Fargo and Western Asset.
Collectively, the Regents Board manages about $451.4 million in the long-term endowment pool, about $190.3 million in the University of Iowa’s intermediate term pool and roughly $300 million in restrict bonds and cash and liquidity options.
Investment targets for its endowment portfolios include 25% each to equity, non-U.S. equity and core fixed-income, 10% to each real assets and private equity and 5% to high yield fixed-income.
The endowment pool lagged the past quarter and the rolling one-year as of Sept. 30, 2012. The intermediate pool surpassed returns for the same period; the account held asset allocation targets of 20% to public equity, 55% to fixed-income, 15% to cash and 10% to REITS, according an investment and cash management report offered in December 2012.
