UK – Deutsche Asset Management has lost an active UK equity brief to Martin Currie Investment Management after the £840m (€1.2bn) Lincolnshire County Council pension fund changed its performance target.

DeAM used to manage a £110m brief against the FTSE All-share index with a 1% performance target. DeAM declined to comment.

Martin Currie was hired following a review, which prompted the fund to change its target to 2% and divert £20m of the UK portfolio overseas. The new manager will take over on July 1. The pension fund did not employ a transition manager.

David Forbes, assistant county treasurer, told IPE that the change was not due to performance and added that DeAM had delivered the performance target.

Aided by bfinance in the first phase of selection and Hymans Robertson in the final stage, the fund selected Martin Currie over four short-listed candidates.

“They Martin_Currie seemed to have a sound process, competent people, sound system and good track record,” Forbes said.

The fund allocated 70% in equities, with a 50:50 UK-overseas distribution, 18.5% to fixed income, 10% in real estate and 10% in cash investments.

Martin Currie says it has also won a “similar” £84m mandate with the Northamptonshire County Council pension fund. Pensions manager Ian Gibbon was not available for comment.

Both mandates will be managed by Jeff Saunders and John Monnelly and the UK active equity team.

Ray Morgan, Martin Currie’s director of UK institutional sales, said the recent wins have take assets under management in UK active equities to over £1.1bn.