LONDON -- The J. Sainsbury PLC pension plan soon will appoint a manager for a new 100 million ($160 million) passive equities portfolio that will be benchmarked to the FTSE Multinationals index of 480 global companies.
Managers on the 2.9 billion plan's short-list are Barclays Global Investors and incumbents Legal & General Investment Management and State Street Global Advisors. Currently, 55% of the fund is invested in passive U.K. equity portfolios.
L&G currently runs a 850 million U.K. equity portfolio; SSgA, 60 million in U.S. equities.
The index was launched last September by FTSE and consultants Bacon & Woodrow. The J. Sainsbury fund is one of the first plan sponsors to use it.
Singapore Telecom picks CAMRA 2000
SINGAPORE -- Singapore Telecommunications has chosen CAMRA 2000 portfolio management, accounting and analysis system to manage its equity, fixed-income, mortgage-backed securities and derivatives holdings totaling $2.8 billion. The company also will use SS&C Technologies' Performance Measurement, Compliance, Rebalancer and Trading Room modules.
Aitken joins Mercury from J.P. Morgan
LONDON -- Sarah Aitken was hired by Mercury Asset Management, London, to head the group's defined contribution business, and Julius Pursaill, Mercury's former head of defined contribution, was appointed head of the firm's e-commerce team. Ms. Aitken came from J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., London, where she was a part of the group's defined contribution team and responsible for liaison with consultants.
