The Kier group, a British construction and property group, has appointed Schroders Solutions as the outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) to its UK pensions schemes, totalling £1.2bn in assets incorporating its liability-driven investments (LDI) capabilities.
The mandate covers five pension schemes and as OCIO, Schroders Solutions will be responsible for assisting the trustees in applying a common investment strategy framework and streamlining the operational running of the schemes, it was disclosed.
Liquidity management is a crucial part of the schemes’ governance and investment management and as part of the tender process, Schroders Solutions was recognised for its “successful navigation of the Gilts crisis last year and its in-house liquidity management processes”, the firm stated.
Mark Cliff, chair of the trustee board, at professional trustee firm Vidett, said: “Following a competitive selection process, we are pleased to have appointed Schroders Solutions to deliver maximum value across these five pension schemes under an OCIO model.”
Neil Walton, head of OCIO and client specialist solutions at Schroders, said: “The move to OCIO models continues to accelerate and a wide variety of clients, including Kier, are seeing the benefits. With institutional investors facing higher demands we are able to provide greater resource, improved value and robustness.”
Schroders Solutions manages in excess of £100bn in OCIO partnerships.
Kier’s OCIO mandate is one of several others announced recently, with BAE Systems appointing Goldman Sachs Asset Management for a £23bn mandate at the beginning of the month, and Northumbrian Water Pension Scheme selecting Cardano earlier in August. The Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP) selected BlackRock to manage its £8.8bn (€9.9bn) pension scheme assets as an OCIO earlier in the year.
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