ATTIMCO Picks Angelica To Fill Post as Chairman –

Robert Angelica, president and chief investment officer of AT&T Investment Management Corp. (ATTIMCO), was promoted to chairman and chief executive of the pension following the retirement of Larry Prendergast in late June.

Angelica will be responsible for investing and overseeing the $18.7 billion pension, where he has worked since its founding in 1992.

“For the most part, it will be a continuation of what I was doing before,” Angelica said, adding that he will not be replaced as President and CIO.

Approximately $2 billion, or 11%, of AT&T’s pension is committed to private equity, about 70% of which is slated for buyout funds and the remainder for venture capital. ATTIMCO is conducting an asset allocation study, which could lead to slight adjustments in the pension’s investment strategy, he said.

“The challenge [with private equity] is to maintain their selectivity in investing in private equity in the current environment,” Angelica said, citing the ripe economy and abundance of new venture capital funds currently on the market.

ATTIMCO outsourced its private equity investment program to J.P. Morgan Investment Management Co. in October 1997 (BUYOUTS Nov. 10, 1997, p. 5) and since then has committed $900 million to the firm’s two funds-of-funds, one vehicle focused on venture capital and another investing in corporate finance.

“[Bob] has been one of the principal architects of one of the most successful investment strategies around,” said J.P. Morgan Vice President of Private Equity and former ATTIMCO investment professional Larry Unrein, noting that AT&T’s pension has been investing in the asset class for nearly 20 years.

J.P. Morgan’s 15-person private equity team includes former ATTIMCO professionals Unrein, Ted Beit, Brendan Cameron, Laureen Costa, Jarrod Fong, Eliot Powell, Todd McComb and Sandy Zablocki.