UK - The £9.8bn (€11.4bn) British Steel Pension Fund is looking to strengthen its internal investment team with the appointment of an Asia Pacific equity manager.

The majority of the pension fund's assets are managed internally by the investment office, which operates a basic strategy of 70% in mature investments, such as fixed-income and index-linked bonds, and 30% in growth assets including equities, real estate and alternatives.

Now the pension fund is seeking to "strengthen our equity team" through the recruitment of a manager responsible for a developed Asia Pacific ex Japan portfolio valued at around £200m.

The role requires the successful candidate to take on the day-to-day management of the "majority" of the Asia Pacific ex Japan equity portfolio, which includes analysing and identifying "appropriate investment opportunities and monitoring a diverse range of countries and sectors".

In addition the manager will be expected to "contribute towards both the portfolio strategy and the asset allocation of the fund", although the pension fund noted the appointee will "enjoy considerable freedom within a clear agreed framework". 

The British Steel Pension Fund manages the pension assets of Corus UK Ltd, part of the Tata Steel Group and with over 150,000 members, of which more than 92,000 are pensioners, the scheme has adopted a conservative asset allocation.

However while the scheme currently has only a small allocation to alternative assets such as private equity and hedge funds, it has revealed future plans to divest from other growth assets to expand its investment in alternatives in an attempt to increase diversification and alpha generation. (See earlier IPE article: Nerves of Steel)

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