New York, NY (ContentDesk) January 3, 2006 -- Money Management Letter, a publication of Institutional Investor News, has announced the nominees for the 5th Annual Public Pension Fund Awards. To honor the nominees, Institutional Investor News, in collaboration with Information Management Network, will host an awards ceremony on April 2nd at the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Spa & Casino.Money Management Letter Lifetime Achievement Award:William Sharpe, professor of finance, emeritus at Stanford University's graduate school of businessNominees in all nine categories were selected based primarily on their accomplishments during the 2005 calendar year. The nominees are as follows:Large Public Plan of the YearMassachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management BoardPennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement SystemNew Jersey Division of InvestmentsMedium Public Plan of the YearMichigan Municipal Employees Retirement SystemOhio Police & Fire Pension FundSan Diego County Employees Retirement AssociationSmall Public Plan of the YearMass. Turnpike Authority Employees' Retirement SystemJacksonville (Fla.) Police & Fire Pension FundCity of Worcester (Mass.) Retirement SystemSavviest Plan Sponsor of the Year:Teachers Retirement System of Texas Missouri State Employees' Retirement SystemCalifornia State Teachers Retirement SystemEquity Manager of the Year:AllianceBernstein Institutional Investment ManagementThornburg Investment ManagementAXA Rosenberg Investment ManagementBond Manager of the Year:Principal Global InvestorsPIMCOLoomis Sayles & Co.Alternatives Manager of the Year:Bridgewater AssociatesMesirow FinancialThe Blackstone GroupPublic Plan Consultant of the YearStephen Nesbitt, Cliffwater LLCChris Cesare, Rocaton Investment AdvisorsDan Holmes, Summit StrategiesPublic Fund Marketer of the Year Doug Angstrom, Goldman Sachs Asset ManagementJack Gastler, Acadian Asset ManagementThad Fletcher, Cooke & Bieler Investment CounselAbout the Money Management Letter Industry Awards: Institutional Investor News awards set the standard for excellence within the financial services industry. Opinions are solicited from the industry but the nominees and winners are selected exclusively by the editorial staff of Money Management Letter.

Public pension plans and their officials, consultants and asset managers are eligible for awards. Nominees and winners represent the best and brightest in their field. About the Publication:Money Management Letter is the leading publication that covers the US asset management and pension funds industries. Every two weeks the publication breaks news on which asset managers are being hired and fired by the nation's public and private pension funds, asset manager personnel moves, activity at consulting firms, new product development, plan sponsor profiles, asset manager league tables, industry studies and more. MML is a must read for any serious practitioner.

About IMN:Information Management Network (IMN) is the market leader in organizing finance and investment conferences. Based in New York City, the Company is in its tenth year of operations. Information Management Network was established to offer educational conferences of the highest quality for the global investment community. The Company organizes roughly 70 conferences annually across the United States and throughout the world..