IWIF, Maryland’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance, is partnering with four minority-owned investment firms in response to a Maryland General Assembly mandate last year.

The firms – Brown Capital Management, Credo Capital Management, Black Knight Asset Management and Xavier Capital Management – will oversee portions of IWIF’s equity and fixed income portfolios, according to IWIF officials.

Company officials said IWIF had been managing the fixed income assets in house prior to awarding the work to Black Knight Asset Management and Xavier Capital Management. The other two investment firms, Brown Capital Management and Credo Capital Management, received new money to invest in equities.

Catherine Pugh

Senate Bill 606, which passed in the 2008 General Assembly, requires IWIF’s board of directors to use, to the greatest extent feasible, minority business enterprises to provide brokerage and investment management services. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Catherine E. Pugh (D-Baltimore City), imposes the same requirement on the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund and the State Retirement and Pension System.

“Our board is most supportive of this legislation and members of our executive team look forward to developing solid relationships with the investment firms and their fund managers,” says IWIF President and CEO Tom Phelan in a prepared statement. IWIF is a self-supporting insurance company that operates solely from premium and investment income.