Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI), the asset management arm for the investment pool, has created the role of head of investment due diligence and hired Dev Jadeja to fill it.

In this newly created role, Jadeja will lead LPPI’s selection and monitoring of external fund managers, working closely with the broader investment team and reporting to chief investment officer Richard Tomlinson.

Jadeja will work across all the asset classes in conjunction with LPPI’s specialist portfolio management teams and be the functional lead for all external manager investment due diligence.

Tomlinson said: “We seek to optimally blend internal management with external allocations. We will only look to manage capital internally where there is a clear rationale for doing so and it is expected to offer substantive benefits to our clients.”

He added that external manager allocations are a core part of LPPI’s investment strategy and creating a centralised team to work with its asset class specialists “will help us elevate our capabilities to the next level”.

Jadeja joins from Cardano Risk Management, where he was deputy lead for the manager research team. Prior to that, he held senior research and portfolio management roles at International Asset Management, Key Asset Management and Old Mutual Asset Managers.

This appointment is part of the next phase of development for Local Pensions Partnership and LPPI, which focuses on self-sufficiency and stability, delivering investment returns in excess of agreed client benchmarks and improving the overall outcomes and experience for members.

In June LPP, a £18.8bn (€20.6bn) UK public sector pension provider, established its pensions administration business as a distinct entity as part of its next phase of development.

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