Hartford (Conn.) Municipal Employees' Retirement Fund, hired Loomis Sayles to manage $50 million in its strategic alpha strategy in unconstrained fixed income, said Gary Draghi, director of investments for the $1 billion pension fund to Pensions & Investments. 

BlackRock (BLK) and Standish Mellon Asset Management were also finalists. It is a new allocation for the pension fund. The funding source could not be learned by press time.

The pension fund board also committed a total of $24 million to three funds: $16 million to Monroe Capital Private Credit Fund II, a private debt fund; and $4 million each to real estate funds Mesirow Financial Real Estate Value Fund II and Tristan Capital Partners' European Property Investors Special Opportunities 4.

Consultant NEPC assisted.