What the judges said: “The sophisticated financial, legal and economic unbundling of commercial real estate cash income streams as a means to protect the indexed portion of the defined benefit plan’s liabilities is assumed to reduce the overall risks of a mismatch between liabilities and assets. It has merit for other funds with comparable inflation indexed liabilities. It is a proprietary concept of BPMT in a narrower sense. It is an intellectually demanding idea and a consistent analogous application of the concept of unbundling to the real estate market, well known otherwise as succesful in the financial markets.”
On hearing the news that BPMT had won the award for investment strategy at country level, a spokesperson for the fund commented: “We were very pleased by the news that we had won the award. First of all because its part of human nature to enjoy an award. But also because we realised this award is a sign of distinction in a field with many very professional competitors. So we feel honored to have won this award. It is a recognition for a lot of hard work from many people, most of them ‘behind the scenes’.
The spokesperson says the award means both a lot to BPMT itself, but also to its investment management operations, Mn Services.
“BPMT and Mn Services have a special relationship in which Mn Services is our unique investment manager. This award demonstrates that Mn Services has a well-respected capability to develop investment policies that suit the needs of BPMT. It strengthens the relationship and encourages Mn Services to continue its role with a special dedication to the specific requirements of pension funds.”
The fund says it is particularly pleased that its strategy/inflation product has received recognition from the judges
“It is a cornerstone our overall investment policies. We see this award as recognition from external professionals for the excellence of a dedicated policy of BPMT to deal with the major challenge of inflation. It also means that the judges have appreciated the work that has gone in dealing with all the complexities of establishing in reality an idea that is basically quite self evident, but very difficult to materialise.”