UK master trust Cushon has selected the Ninety One Global Total Return Credit (GTRC) strategy for an allocation into its default investment strategy.

As part of the partnership, GTRC will be added to the pension default strategy and to Cushon’s risk-rated funds and self-select options, it was announced.

Managed by Jeff Boswell, head of alternative credit, and Darpan Harar, co-portfolio manager, GTRC is a dynamically managed diversified global credit solution which seeks an attractive yield in today’s complex market, Ninety One said.

The strategy invests across a broad range of credit markets and incorporates a comprehensive bespoke sustainability appraisal of each investment as part of its investment process. This includes a proprietary transition alignment evaluation to allow consistent appraisal of transition risk across the portfolio.

Leonard Stimpfle, head of investment at Cushon, said: “The addition of this multi-asset credit mandate improves the resilience of Cushon’s existing bond sleeve by diversifying our credit and shortening our duration exposure.”

Integration of climate risk and sustainability assessments, he noted, was key for Cushon. “This addition to our default investment strategy will help our members secure long-term financial growth while having a positive contribution to the transition to net zero,” he added. 

Swiss pension funds seeks managers for European small-cap, private credit/debt

A pension fund based in Switzerland is looking to appoint an asset manager for a €125m mandate in active European small-cap equities.

According to search QN-2836 on IPE Quest, the portfolio is to be managed via a segregated sub-fund in the umbrella fund of the asset owner.

Participating managers should be able to state performance gross of fees as of 31 March 2023 and should have a minimum track record of five years (10 years is preferred).

Applicants must also hold a minimum of €1bn of assets under management (AUM) for the asset class (minimum €3bn for total AUM)

The deadline for this mandate has been set for 31 July, 5pm UK time.

Separately, another pension fund based in Switzerland has released a pre-request for information (RFI) for a potential investment in private debt or private credit in global developed markets.

IPE Quest’s Discovery notice (DS-2834) stated that the investment style should focus on income oriented corporate strategies excluding infrastructure debt and real estate lending.

The pension fund is looking into a segregated account, however, a commingled fund is also possible.

“An SMA [separately managed account] structure should increase our flexibility with regards to definition of strategy and reduce our operational complexity,” the pension fund stated.

The main focus, the scheme added, should be on direct lending and similar relatively stable and income oriented strategies. For diversification reasons opportunistic strategies could be part of the allocation, it said.

The potential investment has been earmarked at CHF150m and the deadline to participate has been set for 30 June, 5pm UK time.

The IPE news team is unable to answer any further questions about IPE Quest, Discovery, or Innovation tender notices to protect the interests of clients conducting the search. To obtain information directly from IPE Quest, please contact Jayna Vishram on +44 (0) 20 3465 9330 or email jayna.vishram@ipe-quest.com. Follow IPE Quest on LinkedIn.