East Riding of Yorkshire seeks investment manager

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UK - East Riding of Yorkshire Council has launched a tender for investment management services for one-third of its pension fund portfolio, equivalent to £500m (€568m).

At present, 70% of the portfolio is managed in-house, with the remaining 30% run by Schroder Investment Management. Schroders' contract expires next March and this tender is part of the standard process for agreeing a new investment management contract.

The mandate covers part of the overseas equity portfolio including Europe, Japan and North America, and part of the bond portfolio, worth £500m in total.

The ten-year contract is primarily for day-to-day active management but may include management of any other part of the fund's portfolio on an interim basis, as and when required. The pension fund says the mandate will not be split between different managers.

Total fees over the length of the contract will be between £2.5m and £5m, depending on market conditions.

As at 31 March 2009, the fund was worth £1.6bn (€1.8bn) with an asset allocation of 38.9% in UK equities, 28.9% in overseas equities, 7.9% in UK bonds, 4.7% in overseas bonds and 13% in alternative assets, with the remainder in cash.

The fund says it is not looking to change its investment strategy or its benchmark at present.

The fund's return for the 12 months to 31 March 2009 was 7.1%. It was 80% funded with a £528m deficit at its last valuation on 31 March 2007.

The deadline for requests to participate is noon (UK time) on 14 October 2009.

The London Borough of Hounslow has launched a tender for the provision of actuarial services for its £393m pension scheme. The existing contract with Barnett Waddingham expires shortly.

The contract starts on 1 January 2010 and lasts for six years. Fees payable will be between £200,000 and £250,000.

Figures from the draft annual accounts for 2008/09 showed the pension fund dropped more than £60m in value over the year from £461m to £392.9m, as the net return on investments was a loss of £71.97m.