UK – The £1.25bn (€1.46bn) Shropshire County Pension Fund has hired two new managers to oversee its global equity exposure, while retaining the services of current manager MFS Investment Management.
Concluding a tender launched in late January, the local authority scheme said the two new managers had been chosen from a shortlist of six.
In late July, the fund’s pensions committee selected Natixis Global Asset Management and Investec Asset Management from the shortlist, lending greater importance to the companies’ expertise over cost concerns.
Justin Bridges, Shropshire’s head of treasury and pensions, told IPE both managers would be given mandates worth around 8% of the fund’s total assets under management.
Bridges confirmed that MFS would retain its mandate, valued at £106m at the end of last March, and that Natixis and Investec would be granted around £100m in additional funding each, rather than dividing the existing portfolio.
As of last March, Shropshire’s employed Strategic Fixed Income to oversee a global government bond portfolio, while Majedie Asset Management, Legal & General Investment Management, F&C Management, Martin Currie, Baillie Gifford and Goldman Sachs Asset Management oversaw various regional equity portfolios.
Its global equity exposure overseen by MFS was gained through a pooled fund, alongside private equity property and hedge fund investments managed by HabourVest Partners, Aberdeen Property, MAN Investment and BlackRock.
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