UK – Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM), with £40.3bn (€65bn) under management, has launched five new funds aimed primarily at the UK’s medium and small sized institutional pensions market.

The five new pooled funds comprise the following portfolios:
•UK equity - to be invested mainly in mid and large cap equities and equity-related transferable securities. This fund will be benchmarked against the FTSE All Share index.
•Continental Europe – as per UK equity but for continental Europe domiciled companies. Benchmark, FTSE Europe (ex-UK).
•Sterling fixed income – to be invested primarily in sterling denominated investment grade and transferable fixed, variable and floating rate securities. Benchmark, FTSE Gilts All Stocks.
•Sterling broad fixed income – as per sterling fixed income but with exposure to both UK government and corporate bonds. Benchmark, Merrill Lynch Sterling Broad Market.
•Global broad fixed income – a euro denominated fund to be invested in global transferable fixed income securities, with at least two thirds in investment grade securities. Benchmark, Global Lehman Aggregate index (euro hedged).

GSAM says that the new funds will benefit from its research intensive approach which seeks to generate good performance as well as manage risk.

Says Sally Marshall, executive director of UK business development at GSAM: “They the new_funds have been developed so that we can offer a full range of pooled products to UK and European clients.”