This week's mandate round-up includes LCP, F&C, Standard Life, Capita Hartshead, and Northern Trust.
London Borough of Camden Pension Fund to award first hedge fund mandate
The Camden council pension scheme reportedly selected a manager to oversee its first investment into hedge funds, which would see a total of £50m being allocated to the asset class.
The scheme, which according to the latest data held by Pension Funds Online holds assets worth over £955m, selected from a shortlist of five managers, which included BlueCrest and Prisma. The other managers that made it onto the shortlist were Aurum, Blackstone, and Brevan Howard.
The council reportedly appointed the new manager, which identity is still unknown, on the basis of fee structure, past experience and capability. The mandate will be worth £50m.
Dutch pension scheme hires F&C as fiduciary manager
The Dutch pension scheme for hairdressers (Pensioenfonds voor het Kappersbedrijf or Bpf Kappers) hired F&C Netherlands as fiduciary manager. F&C's mandate covers strategic advice, tactic asset allocation, manager selection, engagement overlay, risk- and performance reports, as well as dynamic balance sheet management.
Consultancy firm Aon Hewitt advised on the appointment. The scheme has around 58.000 members and investments totalling around €400m.
Dutch hospitality scheme hires Northern Trust Global Investments for global real estate index portfolio
Investment manager Northern Trust has been selected by Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering, the Dutch hospitality and catering industry pension fund, to manage a €200m developed listed real estate index portfolio.
"Northern Trust's successful track record and innovative approach to index investing were key factors in our decision-making," said Wouter Jan Naborn, head of asset management at Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering. "Northern Trust's attentiveness to our specific requirements and ability and willingness to meet them was critical."
According to information held by Pension Funds Online the industry-wide scheme has roughly 900.000 members. The scheme has €4.3bn in invested funds, the scheme is. one of the Netherland's 10 largest schemes.
Britannia Airways appoints LCP
Lane Clark & Peacock LLP (LCP) has been appointed actuarial advisers to the trustee of the Britannia Airways Superannuation and Life Assurance Scheme.
This is the largest pension scheme within the TUI Travel Group. According to data held by Pension Funds Online the £570m scheme has a membership of over 1,300 members.
In a reaction to the news, Dave York, chairman of the trustee board, said: "The trustee directors were impressed with how LCP demonstrated their understanding of the issues facing the scheme coupled with their embracement of technology to model and reach solutions that will satisfy the ongoing needs of the Britannia Airways Scheme."
University of Sheffield prepares for auto-enrolment with appointment of Capita Hartshead as administrator
The University of Sheffield has appointed Capita Hartshead to administer its nearly 3,000 member pension scheme for non-academic staff. The administration will be run from Capita Hartshead's Sheffield headquarters.
Andrew Wood, head of financial services at the university said: "We had two key criteria when choosing our new administrator. It was essential they could provide a high quality member-focused service and we also wanted a partner that would provide specialist support going forward, especially during the introduction of auto-enrolment. Capita Hartshead ticked both of these boxes."
Standard Life reveals employer-led auto-enrolment solution
Standard Life has unveiled the details of its auto-enrolment administration solution for employers. The platform-based solution is said to remove the initial and ongoing demands of data administration in the three key areas - eligibility assessment, waiting periods and opt outs. The platform was created in conjunction with employers and advisers.
A key feature is that employers will be able to easily identify eligible employees by uploading a data file to the platform, which automatically sorts employees and sees if they are eligible and entitled. The platform also allows employers to integrate their auto-enrolment processes with the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) if they believe a joint approach is appropriate for their employees.
azeevalkink@wilmington.co.uk
First published 26.03.2012
