The second change removes limits on the amounts of CDs that we may purchase at particular maturity levels. The new guidelines allow the portfolio manager to determine the appropriate maturity profile for the portfolio, as is the case for other investments. Some ambiguity in the old guidelines is also eliminated as a result.
Domestic Equities
Approximately $21.9 billion of WRS assets are managed in domestic stock portfolios. Close to $9.2 billion, or 42%, is actively managed internally. Previous guidelines limited SWIB's ownership of a company's stock to 10% of the outstanding shares. Until recently, ownership of more than 10% required the filing of added information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and would have made the shareholder subject to other restrictive trading requirements. The SEC has raised the limit from 10% to 20%. As a result, our guidelines were modified to similarly increase the limit to 20%.
SWIB's small-company stock portfolio is likely to be the primary user of the expanded authority. However, we expect that ownership of more than 10% of a company's stock will only occur in a limited number of cases. Our guidelines continue to limit our overall equity exposure to any one company to no more than 5% of market value of publicly traded stocks owned by the Fixed and Variable Retirement Funds. The assets of the trust funds continue to be well diversified.
The domestic equity guidelines were also modified to provide for a new portfolio that will focus on companies between $750 million and $3.0 billion in market capitalization. It will be managed internally by current staff. This new "target" portfolio will bridge between our small- and mid-size company portfolios. We foresee opportunities in this area of the market. The portfolio is subject to the same guidelines presently in effect for SWIB's other domestic equity portfolios.
Venture Capital and Leveraged Buy-Out Portfolios
SWIB invests assets of the Fixed Retirement Fund in leveraged buy-out (LBO) funds that seek superior returns through closely held ownership and leverage. Typically, we invest in limited partnership interests, although the corporate form of ownership may also be used. The LBO portfolio is valued at $896 million.
We invest assets of the Fixed and Variable Funds in venture capital funds. These entities, in turn, invest in various stages of a new company's development, generally prior to a public offering of the company's stock. Our venture capital portfolio is valued at $95 million.
The guideline change increases the amount that may be invested in international funds from 10% to 20% of the value of the LBO and venture capital portfolios. "International funds" include any fund with a majority of its investment in non-U.S. instruments. As has been the policy for these portfolios, no such investments may be made in emerging markets. The new authority enables the portfolio manager to take advantage of an expanding international private placement market. We continue to see extensive deal-flow in these international funds and believe that this increased authority will help the fund to remain active in the attractive (developed) international private equity arena.
Please contact me if you have any questions about this report.
Sincerely,
Patricia Lipton
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Department of Employment Relations
January 1998
The Honorable, The Senate:
The Written Hiring Reasons Report for Wisconsin State Government is enclosed. The report, covering the periods July 1, 1995, through June 30, 1996 and July 1, 1996, through June 30, 1997, is required under ss.
230.25 (1p) and
230.27 (2k), Wis. Stats., created by
1991 Wisconsin Act 101. Act 101 made several changes in Wisconsin civil service law regarding veterans preference and affirmative action. The law requires "written hiring reasons" for certain hiring transactions and requires the Department of Employment Relations to summarize the hiring reasons and prepare an annual report.
Information for this report came from summary information provided by each agency. Your efforts and cooperation in compiling the summary reports is appreciated. The report includes a summary and information for each state agency and the UW System unit.
If you have any questions, please contact Claire Dehnert, Division of Affirmative Action, at (608) 267-1005.
Sincerely,
Jon E. Litscher
Secretary
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
January 27, 1998
At the direction of s.
13.685(7),
Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For each recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin
Gentile, Sabrina
Skipper Bud's
Boyce, Catherine
Liebe, Thomas
Surgery Center Assn Wisconsin
Leitch, Laura J
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Agri-Service Assn, Wisconsin
Freitag, John W 1/22/98
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
To the Honorable the Senate:
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
Ethics Board
February 3, 1998
At the direction of s.
13.685(7),
Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For each recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
Organizations recently registered:
Below are the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board as employing one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules.
People's Lottery Foundation Inc
Subject(s): None applicable.
Jablonski, Ann
Radtke, Randall
Tries, John
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
Crandon Mining Co
Curtis Jr., Charles G
Customers First! Coalition
Becker, Margaret A
Mortgage Brokers, Wisconsin Assn of
Moore, Thomas E
Nurses Assn, Wisconsin
Dennik-Champion,
Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation
Fox, John
Pre-Cast Concrete Assoc., Wisconsin
Moore, Thomas E
Public Power Inc , Wisconsin
Stuart, Michael
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Auctioneers Assn, Wisconsin
Froehlke, Scott 2/2/98
Bell South Cellular Corp
DuBois, Wayne 1/28/98
Petersen, Eric 1/28/98
Wimmer, Jr, James 1/28/98
Consolidated Papers Inc
Deitz, Scott 1/29/98
Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce
Montgomery, Phillip 1/29/98
Health and Hospital Assn Inc, Wisconsin
Oriedo, Mika 1/30/98
Key Life Insurance Company
Christianson, Peter 2/3/98
Toman, William 2/3/98
