NETHERLANDS - Zorgverzekeraar CZ, one of the largest Dutch health insurers, has appointed Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) to run a €700m fiduciary mandate, it was announced today.

The mandate, which runs across almost half of CZ's total assets, includes equities, fixed income and deposits, GSAM has stated in a press release.

Mike Leers, chief executive at the Dutch insurer, believes "that GSAM will be able to deliver satisfactory returns within our risk framework".

CZ decided to put its assets into a fiduciary management arrangement as it wanted to obtain access to the best asset management capabilities, which it currently lacks within its internal resources.

The insurer is one of the latest institutional investors in the Netherlands to outsource to external multi-managers in the growing fiduciary trend.

It is GSAM's seventh important fiduciary mandate in the Netherlands - in 2002 CZ's main competitor VGZ awarded the firm with a €1bn fiduciary mandate, since then GSAM has won fiduciary mandates from Campina, Vervoer, OCE and  DELA.

"As at 30 September 2006, GSAM's fiduciary management services managed $48bn of assets under management worldwide, of which more than $15bn are in the Netherlands," according to the firm.

GSAM will be responsible for selecting the external fund managers for CZ, and the firm will also provide general advice on risk budgeting, benchmarking and managing active risk.