UK - The £7.9bn (€10.6bn) West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities Pension Fund has appointed JPMorgan to provide currency hedging for its non-UK assets.

JPMorgan will provide hedging for around £1.3bn of assets through a passive currency overlay run by the investment bank's foreign exchange and rates division.

The bank, which has been offering passive currency overlay services to pensions since 2005, said the appointment followed an increasing number of demands for currency hedging solutions from both existing and new clients. 

Judy Saunders, chief investment officer at West Midlands Pension Fund, said: "When we decided to start a currency hedging programme for the fund we found that JPMorgan offered the most comprehensive programme, and we look forward to working with them."

The local authority pension scheme, which has 231,997 members including 60,581 pensioners, made its first move into active currency management last May when it appointed three managers to share a mandate with a combined value of £110m. [See earlier IPE.com story: West Midlands presents currency mandates]

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Nyree Stewart on + 44 (0)20 7261 4618 or email nyree.stewart@ipe.com