UK - Mellon Global Investments says it has been awarded a global tactical asset allocation by the £1.7bn (€2.5bn) pension fund of Cheshire County Council.

"The purpose of the mandate is to provide supplemental alpha to the pension fund," Mellon said. It will attain this via a global TAA approach "seeking to add value by allocating across asset classes, countries and currencies".

The brief - to be managed by Mellon Capital Management Corp., which specialises in quantitative strategy - is the firm’s fourth such win from UK pension funds in the last year.

The northern English council already uses Russell Mellon's performance monitoring services, according to its most recent annual report.

"This reflects the continued strong performance and robust investment process of Mellon Capital, and our ability to consistently match client needs with the expertise of our investment managers," said Mellon Global Investments' chief executive Jon Little.

"It is also part of a growing trend that we are seeing in the UK pension fund marketplace." Mellon Capital has £69.7bn in assets under management.

The fund has 28,800 contributors, 16,600 pensioners and 12,700 deferreds. It made a return on investments of 24% in the year to March 31 2004 – against a -20.4% return in the prior year.

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