SWEDEN - Fjärde AP-fonden, the fourth Swedish buffer fund, has mandated BlackRock to manage a Pacific equities index portfolio, as part of a wider plan for its Pacific-based stocks.

The pension fund issued the tender in June for the handling of €1.5bn in Japanese and Pacific equities, and has now appointed Blackrock Asset Management as its index manager to look after an, as yet, undisclosed sum in Pacific equities.

A tender notice issued by the €22.2bn AP4 fund stated "other contracts are expected to follow" concerning remaining mandates for two to three active managers per geographic area.

This latest mandate is part of a widening of the fund's remit, as AP4's external mandates chief Tobias Fransson previously told IPE the fund wants to "broaden the number of managers and style of managers during this procurement". (See earlier IPE story: AP4 seeks Asian equities managers)

Officials at AP4 were not available for comment at the time of publication.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Julie Henderson on + 44 (0)20 7261 4602 or email julie.henderson@ipe.com

Topics