Dahab's Barry Bryant

The City of Franklin, which has invited fund-of-funds manager proposals for up to $2 million of its pension assets, will interview candidates in Franklin, Nov. 16.

City Assistant Director-Human Resources Pam Conner-Davis told VNC that the city's Pension Committee and Assistant City Administrator for Finance Russ Truell tasked the city's consultant, Dahab Associates of Bayshore, N.Y., with setting the meetings.

Dahab Managing Director Barry Bryant, CFA, who earned an MBA from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, will represent Dahab in the November review of candidates, according to Dahab Research Analyst Dan Maurer, who spoke with VNC this morning.

Bidders' responses to the city's request for proposals are due by 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time, Tuesday, Oct. 20.

To qualify, prospective fund managers must have continuity of management, a minimum three years of private-equity investment experience and at least $500 million in assets under management.

VNC research indicates there may be as much as $30 billion in secondary-market private-equity capital available for purchase. The secondary market enhances liquidity in the otherwise relatively illiquid venture-capital and private-equity sector. Purchases of secondaries, which began in the modern sense in the early-Eighties, is said to have gotten a boost following the Dot-com bust, at the advent of this decade.

As of this morning, the Nov. 16 meeting was not shown on the City of Franklin online calendar. ♦