UK - The north London Borough of Haringey's £447m (€678.5m) pension scheme is looking to appoint an active currency overlay manager for a portfolio in excess of £150m.

The tender notice states that the mandate might increase to as much as £200m and that it "may also include a passive hedge element".

Deadline for participation in this tender is February 19 2007.

In January 2006, scheme adviser, Hymans Robertson stated in a report that "currency management is an effective way of increasing the risk/return characteristics of the fund and we would recommend the introduction of a currency overlay manager."

The advisor noted that the analysis was based on the fund's current exposure to foreign equities. "Currency will become increasingly important if the fund invests a greater proportion of its assets in overseas markets," Hymans Robertson stated.

The north London Borough is the latest in a series of local government authorities to seek to appoint specialist currency managers.  In the second half of 2006 this list included Suffolk, Dumfries & Galloway, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Somerset, Essex and West Midlands.