Mandate roundup: Pension fund seeks green bond strategies via IPE Quest

A European pension fund is seeking green bond strategy ideas from managers via IPE Quest’s Discovery service.

According to search DS-2463, the pension fund is interested in investing globally via an actively managed segregated mandate. The estimated size of the allocation is €150m.

It has specified that it is looking for hard-currency investment grade green bonds.

The deadline for interested parties to submit strategies is 9 August.

IPE Quest Discovery is a pre-RFP service allowing institutional asset owners to carry out a preliminary search for managers and/or research an asset class they are considering for the first time.

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.

AXA lands €1.7bn bond mandate from Ircantec

Ircantec, the €10.9bn French public pension scheme, has awarded a €1.7bn bond mandate to AXA Investment Managers. It will manage a dedicated fund for inflation-linked bonds issued by OECD members.

Ircantec – France’s mandatory scheme for non-tenured state, hospital, local authority and other public sector employees – had around €1.6bn invested in inflation-linked sovereign bonds via Natixis Asset Managers and BNP Paribas Asset Managers as at 31 December, according to its latest annual report.

UK nuclear plan seeks ‘bundled’ provider 

The UK’s multi-employer pension plan for the civil nuclear decommissioning sector is looking for a “bundled” provider for the defined contribution (DC) sections of the £2.4bn (€2.8bn) plan, covering administration and investment.

The Combined Nuclear Pension Plan has nine DC sections, which are currently administered by Aon Hewitt. As at the end of March 2017 it counted some 5,800 members, compared with around 15,000 members for the defined benefit sections.

Aviva to run broadcaster scheme

The BBC has appointed Aviva to operate its DC scheme. The arrangement, known as Life Plan, is predominantly for staff who joined the broadcaster after 1 December 2010.

As the pension plan provider, Aviva will select and manage a range of funds and provide a portal for BBC employees to choose and manage their pension savings.

According to the tender documents, Aviva will earn fees of £2m-£7m over the seven-year period of the agreement.

Six other providers tendered for the contract.