UK - Howden Joinery pension scheme has beefed up its allocation to hedge funds, investing an additional £20m (€22.6bn) with two managers it appointed late last year.

The additional funds - £10m each to investment managers Blackstone and Fauchier - come on top of an existing 9.6% allocation.

The £600m scheme has no further plans to increase the amount invested with either manager.

Pensions manager Chris Vaughan said the decision to allocate to hedge funds came out of a decision by the scheme's trustees to get out of equities into return-seeking assets.

It follows discussions with the sponsor and extensive investment subcommittee discussions over the scheme's de-risking strategy.

"The trustees felt it was the right way to go," she told IPE.

The appointment followed that of Threadneedle and Aviva to manage the scheme's UK real estate portfolio late last year.

The scheme carved the property allocation - at just under 5% - out of an existing, externally managed equity mandate.

Meanwhile, the scheme is mulling over what to do with £40m (6%) currently held in cash.

"The trustees are looking to invest it, and they certainly don't want to hold it as cash in the long term," Vaughan said.

"They're looking at various options, but it will probably go into some kind of bond, probably index-linked. The feeling is that now those bonds are not fair value - in fact, that they're quite a way below fair value."

The results of a triennial review due on 6 April will determine future employer contributions to the Howden scheme.

Vaughan said there were unlikely to be significant changes.