Welsh fund seeking active managers
PONTYPOOL, Wales - Torfaen County Borough Council Greater Gwent Pension Fund is searching for active money managers to run assets totaling L490 million ($759 million), according to a release from the fund. The $1.13 billion plan will hire managers to run $449 million in U.K. equities; $124 million in European equities; $77 million in Japan/Pacific Rim equities and $155 million in active global fixed income. Proposals are due at the end of September, and selections will be made by April.
The fund's current managers, Barclays Global Investors and Gartmore Investment Management, run balanced mandates. Both have been asked to rebid. A BGI spokeswoman declined to comment on the plan's decision, while executives from Gartmore were unavailable for comment at press time.
Mercer Human Resources Consulting assisted.
PIMCO tapped for bonds
HILLEROD, Denmark - APT, the Danish labor market supplementary pension scheme, hired PIMCO to manage a $100 million emerging markets bond portfolio.
The move was one of a number of recent investment strategy changes by the $32 billion fund. Last year, under the advice of consultant Bacon & Woodrow, fund officials began a $500 million investment in international real estate and hired PIMCO to run $75 million in high-yield debt.
Lars Frederiksen, managing director of the plan's investment subsidiary, APT Ejendomme, was unavailable for comment at press time.
AP3 dumps passive
STOCKHOLM - AP3, with e16 billion ($15.8 billion) in assets, hired active managers Capital International and Schroder Investment Management to jointly run $141 million in Japanese equities, and J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management to manage $102 million in Asia-Pacific equities, said Pernilla Klein, spokeswoman. Funding came from terminated manager State Street Global Advisors, which ran $243 million in an equity portfolio pegged to the FTSE All-World Developed Asia-Pacific index.
"These are new mandates ... we started to replace indexed managers with active in the last year," Ms. Klein said.
The plan also may hire other active managers to replace its current passive European and U.S. equities lineup, she said. Plan officials declined to comment on the schedule of changes or which money managers stand to be terminated in the future.
