UK - Three local authorities are tendering investment manager roles for their pension funds, to cover UK property, active global equities and a passive portfolio.

In a spate of tender exercises, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) is offering an initial mandate of £30-40m of passively managed index-linked gilts and global equities for its £322m (€365.6m) pension scheme.

Figures from the 2008/09 annual pension fund accounts revealed the scheme, which saw its funding level drop from 85% in March 2007 to 59% two years later, had an asset allocation at the end of March of 32% in bonds and cash, 61% in equities, 4% in property and 3% in private equity.

It is now seeking a passive manager to run the new portfolio which it suggested "may be expanded to include other asset classes, also managed on a passive basis, at a future date", while the aggregate portfolio could receive further funding in the next 12-18 months.

Meanwhile, the London Borough of Enfield is seeking a manager to run a UK property mandate valued at around £14.5m, or 3% of the total fund.

The scheme, which saw the value of its assets drop £91m in the year to March 2009 and its funding level slip to 64% from 90% in 2007, currently employs RREEF as its property manager following an appointment in 1991.

However, figures form the council's statement of accounts revealed the property portfolio, held in unit trusts mainly in commercial and industrial real estate, posted one of the biggest losses over the year as it lost £20m to £34m by the end of March.

In addition, Falkirk Council has initiated a search for an active global equity manager to run a portfolio valued at around £120m, or 15% of the pension fund's assets.

The scheme, which fell in value from £947.2m to £783.5m in the year to March 2009, revealed the mandate would be benchmarked against either the FTSE All-World or MSCI All Countries World Index with a targeted out-performance of 2-3% over a rolling 3-5 year period.

Further information for the passive mandate from RBKC can be obtained from Hymans Robertson before the closing date of 12 October 2009, the property tender is being managed on behalf of Enfield by Hewitt and closes on 7 October 2009, while Falkirk is also using Hymans to aid in the active global equity manager search which ends on 5 October 2009.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Nyree Stewart on + 44 (0)20 7261 4618 or email nyree.stewart@ipe.com

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