The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund has expanded Kames Capital's global income mandate, giving it an additional £85m to manage on its behalf.

Kames Capital has run the mandate for the Berkshire Pension Fund, within its global equity dividend growth strategy, since being appointed in 2012.

This latest increase takes the total amount it manages for the Fund to £200m.

Nick Greenwood, pension fund manager at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the administering authority for the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund, said:

"We have been impressed with the depth of Kames Capital's global equity income process and we are confident in the team's ability to deliver a reliable and sustainable income stream, with the potential for long-term capital growth."

Kames Capital is a specialist investment management business and it manages £56.8billion on behalf of UK and international clients.

Based in London and Edinburgh, its client base includes pension funds, government agencies, financial institutions, wealth managers, family offices and financial advisers.

Kames Capital's global equity income strategy, launched in 2010, targets an average dividend yield of around 130 per cent of the MSCI AC World Index, as well as aiming to deliver income growth in excess of the UK's headline inflation rate, the Consumer Prices Index.

The strategy is managed by Mark Peden and Douglas Scott, supported by a 26-strong equities team.

Mark Peden, co-manager of the portfolio, said they were delighted with the additional investment.

"The success of this strategy is rooted in our belief that equity markets underappreciate persistency and the long-term value created from compounded returns," he said.

"Companies with these attributes form the core of our equity income portfolios, which aim to deliver outperformance with a lower level of risk."

First published 13.05.2016

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com