New Jersey hunts for consultants

The New Jersey Investment Council, which manages the state pension funds, is looking for a general investment consultant and consultant for three specialist investment classes.

The RFP outlines that the fund is looking for contractors to collectively provide general investment consulting services; private equity investment consulting services; real estate investment consulting services; and hedge fund investment consulting services.

The general investment consultant will be expected to provide an annual asset class structure study, and conduct an asset liability study every two years, which at a minimum includes recommendations for an optimal asset allocation including implementation methodology and a timetable for achieving such asset allocation.

Strategic Investment Solutions currently provides investment consulting services including private equity to the fund, and Cliffwater provides hedge fund consulting

At the end of September the department of investment, which manages $70.2 billion, had 24 per cent in domestic equities, 35 per cent in domestic fixed income, 20 per cent in its international portfolio, 16 per cent in alternatives, 3 per cent in cash, and 2 per cent in other.

This represents an overweight position in domestic equities (by 4 per cent), underweight in domestic fixed income, and an underweight in alternatives (which includes commodities, hedge funds, private equity and real estate).

For the September quarter the fund returned 8.27 per cent.