BUSINESS BRIEFS
Venture assets fall in ERS

Advertiser News Services

The state pension fund saw the value of its venture capital assets shrink in 2002, a reflection of a poor economy that caused many venture funds to struggle.

The venture assets of the Employees' Retirement System fell to $159 million, down 10.6 percent from $178 million the previous year, fund managers reported yesterday to the ERS board.

Despite the loss in value, ERS investment advisers said the system's venture funds are being managed competently, and that long-term trends are favorable.

The ERS venture funds, which are managed by Abbott Capital Management, represent 2.2 percent of ERS' $7 billion portfolio of stocks, bonds, property and other assets, which together support the retirement benefits of more than 90,000 state and county government employees, retirees and pension beneficiaries.

Bank's profits up nearly 150%

Territorial Savings Bank said first-quarter profits rose nearly 150 percent, reflecting rising income from interest and falling loan delinquencies.

The Honolulu-based savings bank reported net income for the three months that ended March 31 rose to $3.27 million, up from $1.3 million in the same year-ago period.

Territorial, which makes most of its money from residential loans, has profited from the surge in home purchases and home refinances brought on by the lowest interest rates in more than three decades.