UK - The £425m (€610m) Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea pension fund is seeking an investment consultant to assist with asset allocation and external manager appointments.

A spokesperson for the local government pension scheme said the tender was standard procedure as the contract with its current consultant, PSolve, was due for renewal.

The fund was hoping to appoint the new consultant by March next year, he added.

PSolve has provided investment consultancy services to the pension fund for the last four years.

The tender notice stated: "The service will play a pro-active role in setting the investment strategy for the fund, advising on objective, benchmarks and portfolio construction, reviewing strategy following triennial valuations, facilitating fund manager/custodian selection and monitoring manager performance."

The mandate is worth between £150,000 and £200,000 and the deadline for submissions is November 19.

Kensington and Chelsea currently provide defined benefit pension arrangements for 3,200 active members, 2,600 deferred members and 2,100 pensioners.

In June this year, the fund appointed Capita Hartshead to handle its pension administration with effect from September 1.

In December last year, it started investing in private equity on the back of an asset allocation review advised by PSolve, which recommended the inclusion of alternative investments.

The fund's target allocation includes 60% equities, 30% bonds and 5% each in property and private equity.

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