Florida State Pension Terminates AQR Investment

Florida’s state investment office has terminated a U.S. equity investment with AQR Capital Management valued at $163 million at the end of June 2019, according to pension fund documents. 

For nearly 15 years, AQR had managed small-cap U.S. stocks for the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA). That arrangement ended in January.

Around the same time, SBA also pulled a massive and longtime investment from Aberdeen Standard Investments. The U.K. firm ran nearly $1 billion in emerging markets equities for SBA as of June 2019'. 

This termination substantially reduces their relationship. Aberdeen had just one other mandate as of last disclosure: A $108 million frontier markets allocation. 

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SBA remains a major AQR client, however, even without the small-cap mandate. 

Florida had $211 million in an AQR managed futures fund, $137 million in a so-called style premia vehicle, and about $700 million invested in its international equity products, as of last year’s annual report.

SBA oversaw $202 billion in public assets as of April 30, most of which ($157.7 billion) belongs to the retirement system. 

AQR declined to comment on the termination.