E1.2bn TNO fund appoints enhanced index manager

NETHERLANDS - The Rijswijk-based e1.2bn TNO pension fund for workers in the Dutch public/private sector for research and statistics, has awarded State Street Global Advisors an enhanced index mandate worth around e100m over the next couple of years.

The fund says State Street will initially be given a tranche of assets worth e25m, but that this will rise as money is transferred from existing money managers

Eric van Ballegooijen, director of the TNO fund, which recently moved into shared office space with a number of other Dutch pension plans just outside the Hague, comments: “The mandate could come to about e100m at the point when it is complete.
“We believe that State Street are a good party for this business because we have seen some other large pension funds in the Netherlands already have this kind of relationship with them. We also think that the price and fee structure was OK.”

The fund did not use a consultant for the manager search.

Van Ballegooijen says the scheme is now searching for a hedge fund manager and has hired a consultant to shortlist managers with the first results of the search expected in the next couple of weeks.

TNO also recently appointed Dutch pension fund investment manager MN Services to run a 30 million euro international real estate mandate.