Pension fund chief named

Michael Travaglini was confirmed yesterday as the new executive director of the $32 billion Massachusetts state pension fund, returning to an agency he oversaw as a top deputy to the former state treasurer, Shannon O'Brien. The pension fund's board unanimously approved Travaglini, chosen as a finalist by a search committee and professional headhunting firm that screened dozens of candidates for one of the highest-paying jobs in state government. He is the brother of Massachusetts Senate President Robert E. Travaglini. Also yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney appointed Gregory White, executive director of the agency from 1994 to 1997, to a seat on the nine-member board. (Andrew Caffrey)

Illinois fund fires MFS

MFS Investment Management was fired by the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System from managing $664 million of US stocks because of the mutual fund company's performance and recent settlement with regulators over improper trading. The $30 billion pension decided to terminate MFS, the Boston-based unit of Canada's Sun Life Financial Inc., at a meeting in Springfield, Ill., said Jon Bauman, the fund's executive director. MFS had been on a probationary watch list because performance lagged its peer group and benchmark, he said. Bauman said the Illinois pension was concerned about the suspensions of MFS chief John W. Ballen and president Kevin J. Parke as part of a settlement with regulators. (Bloomberg)

Virgin to add Boston flights

Virgin Atlantic Airways said it will add three flights per week to London from Boston. The new service will be seasonal, starting June 1 and ending Oct. 31, to beef up the carrier's schedule during the summer travel season. Virgin Atlantic also said it will hire 1,100 workers by the end of the year. A spokeswoman said some hires will be stationed in Boston to handle the added flight volume. (Keith Reed)

Stent makers settle suits

Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick and Guidant Corp. of Indianapolis yesterday said they have agreed to settle patent litigation in which the two medical-devices companies accuse each other of various infringements related to the design of coronary stents and other products. The companies didn't disclose terms but said they agreed to license certain patents from each other. Separately, Boston Scientific said it has invested an unspecified amount in closely held Cameron Health Inc., a San Clemente, Calif., maker of implantable defibrillators, a major devices market. (Ross Kerber)

THE NATION

Ruling in privacy case

Federal employees who persuaded JetBlue Airways to give a defense contractor personal information about 1.5 million passengers -- without their knowledge or permission -- will have to undergo training about privacy issues. Employees of the Transportation Security Administration broke the spirit, but not the letter, of federal privacy laws, Nuala O'Connor Kelly, the chief privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security, said yesterday. JetBlue gave the passenger records in September 2002 to Torch Concepts, a Defense Department contractor that used the information as part of a study seeking ways to predict who posed a risk to military installations. (AP) . . .

Etc.

American Hospitality Concepts of Braintree, which abruptly closed 59 Ground Round and other restaurants nationwide last week and laid off more than 3,000 employees, has filed for bankruptcy protection. . . . Sony Corp. and other US movie studio owners won a court order to force DVD-copying products off the market after a judge ruled that the products violate federal copyright law. US District Judge Susan Illston blocked 321 Studios Inc., of St. Louis, from "manufacturing, distributing or otherwise trafficking in any type of DVD circumvention software" in a court order that takes effect in seven days. . . . Internet Photonics, a privately held optical ethernet firm with offices in Marlborough and Shrewsbury, N.J., will be acquired by optical networks maker Ciena Corp. in a stock deal valued at about $150 million. (Globe wire services)