A Swiss investor has issued a large cap growth equity tender worth €250m via IPE Quest.

According to the QN-2611 search, the mandate is to follow the MSCI Europe index, with a minimum 1.5% expected level of tracking error.

Participating managers should have at least €3bn in assets under management as a firm, and at least €1bn under the growth large cap equity. Their track record should be at least three years, but a minimum of five years is preferred.

The deadline for applications is 26 June at 5pm UK time. Applicants should state performance data to 31 May 2020, gross of fees.

The IPE news team is unable to answer any further questions about IPE Quest, Discovery, or Innovation tender notices to protect the interests of clients conducting the search. To obtain information directly from IPE Quest, please contact Jayna Vishram on +44 (0) 20 3465 9330 or email jayna.vishram@ipe-quest.com.

Swedish county pension fund turns to COIN for advice

The Swedish county of Gävleborg has appointed COIN as the new consultant for its SEK5bn (€475m) pension fund after a tender process in which only one firm participated.

Stockholm-based COIN Investment Consulting Group won the contract to provide pensions investment management advice for the Region Gävleborg administration of the central Swedish coastal county, with the result announced on the TED EU tendering site.

A spokesman for the council told IPE that COIN would replace Söderberg & Partners, which had been providing consultancy services up to now.

Region Gävleborg manages its own pension fund, he said, with the help of consultants for different assignments such as reporting, finding investment alternatives and sustainability reports.

According to the council’s 2019 financial report, the pension fund grew to SEK5.15bn and returned 17.7% last year, but this was 3.9 percentage points lower than the benchmark.

Alternative investments and foreign equities both underperformed the index last year, it reported, however, since inception, it said the fund had returned an average of 6.4% a year – 0.5% above the index.

With total pension liabilities of SEK7.9bn, the pension fund had a 65.5% funding ratio at the end of 2019, according to the report.

The spokesman said the council had been surprised that only one firm applied for the contract in the tender process.

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