UK - Lancashire County Council pension fund has hired Gottex Fund Management to manage a £100m (€143m) fund of hedge funds (FoHFs).

This is the £3.47bn local authority pension fund's first foray into the FoHFs space, having tendered in June 2006 with the support of Mercer Investment Consulting in Liverpool. (See earlier IPE story for more information: Lancashire tenders €146m in hedge funds)

According to the tender contract notice issued by the pension fund, 52 firms applied to manage the mandate for Lancashire County Council but the Swiss-based firm won the mandate for being the "most economically advantageous tender".

This is the third mandate awarded to Gottex by a local authority this year, having earlier picked up a £100m hedge fund mandate from Avon in April along with a £101.7m portable alpha mandate in March from the Clwyd pension fund.