LGIM appointed by London Borough of Hillingdon Pension Fund to manage its index-tracking investments.

L&G will replace the incumbent provider, State Street Global Advisors.

The circa £215million mandate, which will be invested across LGIM's range of index funds, will benefit from a commercial agreement with the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) – an investment management organisation set up by local government in 2015.

Hillingdon Pension Fund is looking to reduce its costs, while maintaining its investment performance for its members.

Philip Corthorne, chair of the Pensions Committee at the £810m Fund, said: 'We chose LGIM because of its expertise in index-tracking fund management and broad range of cost-effective pooled funds."

"It will enable us to take a step closer towards the Government's pooling agenda with management and reporting of the mandate to eventually be carried out by the pool."

LGIM is the largest manager of Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS) mandates in the UK, managing £44billion of assets.

In November last year, LGIM announced it had been appointed to manage a £6.5billion pooled passive mandate by a group of seven schemes, comprising Cheshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Adam Willis, head of index and multi-asset distribution at LGIM, said the organisation's experience of local authorities means it is well-placed to manage on behalf of Hillingdon.

"Our understanding of the specific challenges facing the local authority sector means we are able to use our expertise to offer low cost investment solutions."

"We are committed to supporting the LGPS with asset pooling, which is aimed at delivering the best outcome at retirement for current and future pensioners."

"We look forward to working with the London Borough of Hillingdon and helping it deliver on its long-term investment objectives."

First published 03.11.2016

Lindsay.sharman@wilmingtonplc.com