The £2.2bn (€3bn) Dorset County Pension Fund had tendered for the management of nearly £500m of its global equity assets.

The UK local government pension scheme (LGPS) has two portfolios available for management – a £240m active global equity fund and a smart-beta global equity fund of the same size.

The fund said it would prefer one or two managers to handle the investments on its behalf.

For its global active equity portfolio, the fund said it was seeking a long-only strategy, with managers operating a fundamental discretionary approach, with no exposure to emerging markets.

Asset managers should have a minimum three-year track record with £1bn in the strategy or pooled fund.

Segregated mandates will be considered.

The smart-beta strategy, Dorset said, should be factor based or a fundamental strategy, also with no exposure to emerging markets.

Likewise, asset managers should have £1bn in the strategy or fund, with a three-year track record.

The fund has a target 22% allocation to global equities in developed markets, its second-highest allocation after the UK equity market.

Dorset forms part of the Hermes Infrastructure investment fund, which recently took stakes in Continental rail operator Eurostar and UK ports operator Associated British Ports.

In other news, the Wiltshire Pension Fund has appointed Loomis Sayles to manage its £200m diversified fixed income portfolio.

The £2bn LGPS fund has made equal commitments to two of Loomis Sayles’ offerings – an absolute return fixed income fund that invests across global markets, and a global multi-credit strategy.

The pension fund said it was keen to diversify away from its equity weights and hedge potential interest rate rises and low returns in the UK bond market.