The e12.5bn Dutch metal and electronic industries pension fund PMI-SVM has awarded four mandates totalling e2.5bn to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), Merrill Lynch (ML) and Vanguard.
SSgA has been hired to manage two equity mandates with a combined value of e1.5bn, comprising a $1.1bn (e1.3bn) enhanced US equities portfolio and a $225m enhanced global equities portfolio. These mandates will be managed from SSgA’s headquarters in Boston.
ML has taken over a e400m North American equity portfolio and Vanguard two fixed income portfolios with a combined value of e400m. One portfolio will consist of US government bonds and the other will be made up of euro-zone bonds.
The ML and Vanguard mandates, both of which were previously managed by F&C, were awarded following a review that decided the fund needed to have these particular portfolios index-tracked.
All the awards are part of PMI-SVM’s decision to split the assets of its pension fund, primarily a defined benefit plan, into separate mandates this year.
Says Roland van den Brink, managing director of PMI-SVM in Schipol Zuidoost: “We believe that outsourcing these mandates will benefit our participants.”