UK - The €3.5bn pension fund sponsored by UK drinks group Diageo, producer of brands such as Guinness and Baileys, has appointed Hymans Robertson as its new investment consultant.

The fund previously worked with Hewitt Associates, but replaced the firm in July when Hymans won the mandate.

Earlier this month, Hewitt also lost its mandate with the £3bn AstraZeneca pension scheme after it appointed the Rotterdam-based Cardano.

At the time, Cardano had already nabbed Hewitt's consultant Kerrin Rosenberg as the chief executive for its new London office.

Both Hymans Robertson and Hewitt declined to comment, though a spokesman for Hewitt said the company will remain the fund's actuary.

Diageo's move comes after the fund shifted 20% of its assets outs of equities and into bonds at the beginning of this year. Also, according to a study by Lance Clark & Peackock in August, the fund took out swaps.

The fund intends to increase its bond allocation up to 40% when it hits full funding. Currently, the scheme's funding level is at 90%.

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