Crane Data Subscribers
Florida Selects Federated Investors to Manage Local Govt Inv Pool. CNNMoney reports that Federated Investors has won one of the largest money fund mandates in history, the management of Florida's $9 billion State Board of Administration's LGIP, or local government investment pool. Federated was the lowest bidder, beating out temporary pool manager BlackRock and BNY Mellon. The Florida pool halted redemptions in late November (see Crane Data 11/29 News) after a run on assets and several downgrades and defaults the non-rated pool's securities. The fund was frozen, then split into two pools by BlackRock, who was brought in to stabilize it. Florida says, "Governor Charlie Crist, CFO Alex Sink and AG Bill McCollum today, acting as Trustees for the State Board of Administration (SBA), confirmed Interim Executive Director Bob Milligan's recommendation to hire Federated Investors Inc. to manage the Local Government Investment Pool." The Governor added, "Federated Investors' tremendous experience and 53 years of past performance in investment management makes this firm an excellent choice to manage Florida's local government investment pool. Its outstanding record, along with its high quality customer service, will be a benefit to Florida's local leaders seeking a conservatively-managed investment fund." Spokeswoman Meghan McAndrew tells us, "Federated's extremely pleased that Florida selected us to manage its LGIP." The Florida pool, which has since stablized its asset base, is now AAA-rated by S&P. No other local government investment pools, almost all of which carry AAA ratings, have experienced similar problems.
