US – Mercer Human Resource Consulting has had an “excellent” response from US clients for its new multi-management offering, says parent firm Marsh & McLennan Cos.

“Within Mercer Human Resource Consulting, there is increased demand for bundled solutions in retirement and benefits outsourcing, and the early response by US clients to the launch of Mercer Global Investments products has been excellent,” MMC’s president and chief executive Michael Cherkasky said in the firm’s latest earnings report.

Mercer launched the business in 2004 and has said it plans to launch it outside the US this year. At the time of MMC’s annual report, the unit had around $309m (€253m) in assets under management.

Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s second-quarter revenues were up 2% at $687m – but fell 2% on an underlying basis after currency impact.

“Revenue trends for Mercer’s retirement, HR services and human capital businesses improved in the second quarter of 2005 compared with the first quarter,” it said.

Putnam Investments, MMC’s asset management arm, saw its assets under management decline to $196bn from $216bn a year before. It had $16.8bn in net redemptions and its revenues fell 13% to 377m.

Putnam’s institutional net redemptions were “significantly lower” in the second quarter. It had $63bn of institutional assets under management, out of a total of $195bn, at the end of the second quarter.

Overall, MMC’s net income slid to $144m from $389m while consolidated revenues rose 2% to $3.1bn.

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