EUROPE - The £463m (€521m) Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Pension Fund has awarded a mandate worth close to two-thirds of total fund value to Longview Partners and Baillie Gifford, replacing Alliance Bernstein due to underperformance.

The approximately £300m mandate, first tendered a year ago, is for the local government pension scheme's (LGPS) global equity mandates, previously managed by Baillie Gifford and Alliance Bernstein.

In the scheme's most recent annual report, it noted that while Baillie Gifford "outperformed against both benchmark and target" in 2008-09 and was close to target the following year, the latter asset manager's performance continued to be "very disappointing".

A spokesman confirmed Baillie Gifford was retaining its position as equity manager, with Longview Partners taking the place of Alliance Bernstein due to its performance.

Meanwhile, an industry-wide pension fund is looking to invest $125m (€88m) in global emerging markets equity, using IPE Quest.

In mandate QN1175, the scheme from mainland Europe asks for passive managers to apply for the equity mandate with a bias toward large caps.

The scheme is considering both a fund and a mandate as its investment solution, looking to replicate the MSCI Emerging Markets equal weight index while minimising tracking error.

Interested companies must have at least two years of experience, managing at least $500m in similar mandates, with $5bn in assets under management.

Applications must be made by 21 April, stating performance net of fees until the end of March this year.

In other news, the Scottish council of Falkirk is tendering a £100m absolute return mandate for its £1.1bn LGPS.

The council says the multi-asset absolute return mandate will not allow hedge fund of funds and that the £100m value of the portfolio might be changed at a later date.

Interested parties should contact Hymans Robertson in Glasgow for further information, with all applications due by 3 May.

According to its latest annual report, the scheme allocates more than 70% of assets to UK and overseas equities, with the next-largest mandate being its exposure to fixed-interest bonds.

Finally, the £94m Cardiff University Pension Fund is tendering for an investment consultant, as well as a provider of actuarial and administration services.

The positions, currently all held by Aon Consulting, will be awarded for a three-year period, until the end of July 2014, which is also the end of the scheme's financial year.

Further information on the mandate, for which parties must apply by 12 May, can be obtained from the university's purchase office, as well as its tender ePortal.

The IPE.com news team is unable to answer any further questions about IPE Quest tender notices to protect the interests of clients conducting the search. To obtain information direct from IPE Quest, please contact Jayna Vishram on +44 (0) 20 7261 4630 or email jayna.vishram@ipe-quest.com