The London base of investment consultants Frank Russell Company has scooped two new clients through its Russell Intergrated Asset Management (RIAM) package.
The Compass Group pension fund and the Fiat Common Investment Fund have both awarded mandates in excess of £100m (E142bn) to RIAM.
Jim Roberts, spokesperson at Compass, says: Frank Russell was chosen after a rigorous selection process by the company and trustees following a review of our existing pension ar-rangements. We felt that the investment approach adopted by Russell through their multi-manager, multi-style structure was more appropriate to our overall investment strategy and objectives."
The RIAM system provides trustees with the range of the company's investment expertise, from object setting to transition management.
Clients are at first advised to create and formalise an investment strategy, including asset liability studies. This is supported by trustee education on investment and fiduciary issues, culminating in the setting of a strategic asset allocation designed to meet each fund's specific objectives and risk tolerance.
The next stage is to implement Russell's multi manager programme, with Russell assuming responsibility for monitoring investment performance and asset diversification.
p Frank Russell Company has also recently teamed up with custodian bank Mellon Trust to set up Russell/ Mellon Analytical Services, providing performance measurement products and analytics for more than $2trn (E2.3trn) in assets worldwide.
The new joint venture will serve over 1,100 clients and has created one of the world's largest providers of performance measurement tools for money managers and institutional investors.
Frank Russell has also been working closely with Mellon-owned Buck Consultants, as a result of such company co-operation.
William C Pryor, CEO at Russell/ Mellon AS, says: "We are committed to raising the industry standard for investment-decision support and analysis, and throughout 1999 clients will notice several incremental en-hancements as we unify our product line and build a fully integrated package of analytic tools." Russell/Mellon will have European offices in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London and Paris.
Correction: In the January edition of IPE, it was stated on page 37 that Barclays Global Investors has assets of $500m worldwide and $100m in Europe. This should have read $500bn worldwide and $100bn in Europe."

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