Rothschild ratchets up £58m mandate win

UK - Rothschild Asset Management has landed the brief to manage a set of multi-asset portfolios worth £58m in total for the tripartite closed pension plan of Coventry based Alfred Herbert Limited, the former machine tool manufacturer.

The fund dropped Phillips & Drew (P&D) to appoint the new manager after concerns over long-term performance, although John Ross, pensions manager at Alfred Herbert says it was a difficult decision for the trustees, acknowledging P&D’s recent upswing in returns and empathising with their steadfast value principles.

The pensions arrangements of the firm, which went into liquidation around 20 years ago, include separate plans for executives, staff and a works scheme – covering approximately 1500 members with an additional 3,000 deferred.

Each scheme has two portfolios, one, which invests against a 100% UK gilts benchmark and a second, which has benchmark of 70% UK equities and 30% overseas shares.
The split between the portfolios reflects the specific liabilities of each of the schemes and the objective is for each portfolio to outperform the relevant benchmark by 0.5% per annum.

Ross adds: “Having interviewed a number of managers the trustees were impressed by Rothschild’s strong performance record and enthusiastic approach to the scheme’s special requirements. “

Bacon & Woodrow acted as advisor to the fund’s manager review.