C Brewer & Sons, a painting and decorating supplier, has appointed SEI as their fiduciary manager. SEI will provide these services to the two defined benefit (DB) schemes of the firm which have combined assets of £108m.

The offering includes the implementation of asset and liability matching strategies, the construction of an efficient investment portfolio, and the selection and replacement of managers to run the portfolio.

C Brewer's trustees say they decided to engage a fiduciary manager because of a desire to more effectively manage their funding level. The trustees wanted to implement a process that would allow for more nimble investment decisions to be made, with the aim of protecting improvements in funded status by managing liability risks on an ongoing basis.

Commenting on the decision to appoint SEI, Lynne Turner, chairwoman of trustees of the scheme, said: "The trustees of both schemes decided to appoint a fiduciary manager because we were keen to find a governance approach which would allow us to more effectively manage the assets of the scheme against the liabilities."

Kim Gubler Consulting provided advice during the selection process.

Commenting on the appointment, Patrick Disney, managing director of SEI's Institutional Business for the EMEA region, said: "This win is further evidence of the growing popularity of fiduciary management in the U.K. and the recognition that a fiduciary management approach can provide for a more effective and quick decision making process, allowing trustees to capitalise on investment opportunities as they arise. We look forward to working with C Brewer in achieving their pension scheme objectives."

First published 03.08.2012

azeevalkink@wilmington.co.uk