EUROPE - Germany's largest pension fund, the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has awarded Man with a managed account mandate worth €1.2bn.

The mandate, which will see funds transferred to the new account over the course of the year, brings the company's total assets under management via managed accounts to $8.7bn (€6.4bn), meaning the BVK award accounts for close to a fifth of all assets managed by Man at the end of January.

As part of the agreement, Man will provide operational due diligence, as well as risk management oversight and assist with manager appointments.

However, the €50bn scheme, covering more than 1.5m workers in Germany, will retain the sole power to appoint new managers.

Dajana Brodmann, deputy head of alternative investments at BVK, said Man won the mandate on the depth of its experience.

"We undertook a rigorous selection process for our managed account platform provider," she said, adding that Man's position as an independent company also played a role.

Meanwhile, Railpen Investments, which manages assets for rail-related pension schemes in the UK, has awarded a segregated mandate to Unigestion.

While a spokeswoman for the asset manager declined to discuss the size of the mandate, Railpen's assets will be managed under the company's minimum variance global equity strategy, which aims for non-correlated returns and a reduction of risk over the long term.

Tom Leavitt, managing director and head of institutional clients at Unigestion, said: "This appointment reflects the suitability of our Minimum Variance strategy to meet demand within the UK institutional market for diversified equity exposure that combines downside protection and long-term outperformance."

Railpen, which manages £18bn (€21bn) in assets, recently appointed Paul Bishop as head of investment management.