UK – The 1.7 billion-euro P&O Pension Scheme has awarded a 50 million-pound (71 million-euro) UK equities mandate to Investec Asset Management.

"Investec Asset Management were appointed for this mandate because the trustees felt that the disciplined investment process was capable of adding value, in terms of enhanced returns and also because the Investec style fitted well along side the styles of our existing managers,” said Rita Powell, pensions controller at shipping firm P&O.

Investec said the aim is to outperform the FTSE All Share by three percent a year over a rolling three-year period. The fund will be managed by Michael Rimmer.

"We are very pleased to have secured this mandate which was won against strong competition,” said Mark Samuelson, head of institutional business development at Investec.

“This win is a great triumph for our UK equity team, whose disciplined and distinct investment process for truly active portfolio management in terms of security selection is paying dividends to our clients."

Investec has more than 17 billion pounds under management and has around 1,000 institutional clients – which includes more than 600 pension funds and charities.

P&O was advised by Watson Wyatt.