Philips Pensions Competence Center, the new name for Schootse Poort, the manager of Koninklijke Philips Electronics’ E12.5bn in pension assets, has said it will not acquire more third-party clients following a strategic review.
Eindhoven-based Schootse Poort, which was founded in the early 1990s as Philips restructured and sold parts of its business but kept the pension funds in-house, changed its name to Philips Pensions Competence Center on June 1. Although half its 15 clients are from third parties, the majority of its E15bn in assets are managed for Philips.
A Philips’ spokesman said: “Schootse Poort suggests a major focus on external firms but the focus is Philips. We had originally thought Philips would be less important but the reality last year showed the focus was Philips.
“The name_change does not mean anything for the management of the third parties’ portfolios but we will not acquire new clients because there is a limited amount of time to service clients and we must invest it in the most important client, which is Philips.”
It is unclear if the existing third-party clients, such as Atos Origin, Bois, Kininklijke Cosun, Heineken and Siemens, will remain with their investment manager.