World Briefs

Aberdeen to search for variety of managers

ABERDEEN, Scotland — The Aberdeen City Council Superannuation Fund will search for global equity, bond and real estate managers — all new mandates — and will look for a private equity manager for its existing portfolio, said Joanne Hope, pensions manager, investments.

Plan officials hope to complete the hirings within the next nine to 12 months, she said.

The £1.1 billion ($2.02 billion) scheme is now looking for consultants to assist with the manager searches; the deadline for proposals is July 13, and interested consultants should contact the fund directly. Ms. Hope said consultants will be hired in the next three months.

The fund is restructuring following an asset-liability study, she said. The global equities portfolio will be £200 million; bonds will be £150 million; and real estate, £100 million.

The private equity portfolio, currently £25 million, will be boosted to £50 million.

Aberdeen Asset Management has run the private equity portfolio for 12 years, and Ms. Hope said it was time to look it over. The firm can rebid. Plan officials terminated two managers because of the restructuring: Deutsche Asset Management, which ran £300 million, and Schroder Investment Management, which handled £250 million, both in balanced portfolios. Both companies can bid for the new portfolios, she said.

The fund added £70 million to a passive global equity fund run by State Street Global Advisors, increasing it to £300 million. It also retained Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, which runs £110 million in active U.K. equities for the scheme, and Capital International, which runs a £50 million active global equity ex-U.K. portfolio.

GLOUCESTER, England — Gloucestershire County Council Pension Fund switched to specialist money management and is searching for new investment managers for virtually the entire £630 million ($1.159 billion) plan, said Tony Jenkins, pension fund accountant.

Trustees hired bfinance to search for managers to run £170 million in gilts, general and index-linked fixed income; up to £170 million in U.K. core equities; £150 million in global equities, excluding the United Kingdom and emerging markets; up to £115 million in U.K. high-alpha equities; £45 million in property; and £20 million in emerging markets equities.

Selections are likely by the end of the year, added Mr. Jenkins. Interested money managers can contact bfinance.

SG Asset Management, Henderson Global Investors and Insight Investment currently run most of the plan's assets — £205 million each — in balanced portfolios. Mr. Jenkins would not say why the plan moved to a specialist model or if the three managers would be invited to bid for the new portfolios. Hermes Pensions Management will continue to run a £15 million corporate governance mandate.

Watson Wyatt is advising.

PARIS — Fonds de Reserve pour les Retraites hired eight managers to run a combined €4.12 billion ($5.03 billion) in new portfolios, the €16 billion fund announced.

AXA Investment Managers, Capital International, Groupama Asset and Lombard Odier have four-year contracts to run €620 million each in active eurozone large-cap equities, and Societe Generale Asset Management has a five-year contract to run €200 million in active U.S. midcap equities, according to a statement from the fund. J.P. Morgan Fleming will be a standby manager for both mandates.

F&C Management has a four-year contract for a €480 million international inflation-indexed bond portfolio, and CDC IXIS and Deutsche Asset have four-year contracts to run €480 million each in active non-euro denominated bonds, the statement said. AXA Investment was named inflation-indexed standby manager, and Capital International was named standby manager for the non-euro portfolio.

Separately, the fund is completing an existing search for 10 more firms to run a combined €1.8 billion; those managers are expected to be selected by the end of June.

Mercer Investment Consulting is the investment consultant.

LONDON — HSBC Bank (UK) Pension Scheme might invest in emerging market debt, a hedge fund and junk bonds, said Richard Service, investment and governance manager. Fund officials will decide by the end of the year.

HSBC conducted a recent review of its £7.2 billion ($13 billion) fund and decided these three areas are worth exploring. Watson Wyatt is assisting.

LONDON — U.K. charities' income has fallen 16.5% annually since 1997 because of the government's elimination of the advance corporate tax credit as well as poor financial markets, according to Investec Asset Management. Officials at British charities must decide if they will maintain spending or spend less to survive economically over the long term, according to Investec, which has been examining the sector over the past five years.

One possible route for charities is to move money out of capital and add it to the income flows, said John Hildebrand, portfolio manager. U.K. charities may opt to move more money into bonds as they examine what risks exist for the different strategies, he added.

U.K. charities have about £60 billion ($110 billion) in total assets.

STOCKHOLM — Kerstin Hessius will become chief executive of AP3, the 142 billion krona ($19 billion) pension fund, on Sept. 1. She replaces Tomas Nicolin, who became chief executive of Alecta, one of Sweden's largest mutual fund and pension providers.

Ms. Hessius is president of Stockholmsb%F6;rsen, the Swedish stock exchange, and executive vice president of its HEX integrated markets division. Spokeswoman Annika Molander said the exchange is looking for a replacement.

MONTREAL — Michel Malo was named executive vice president, investment analysis and optimization, for the C$140.3 billion (US$103.6 billion) Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal. It's a new position.

Mr. Malo comes from State Street Global Advisors, Montreal, where he was chief investment officer for Canada, director of portfolio management and an investment committee member.

SSgA spokesman David Willenski did not return calls by press time for details on his replacement.

HAMILTON, Bermuda — Ingersoll-Rand Co. shareholders on June 2 voted 81% in favor of a CalPERS-sponsored proposal to elect directors annually instead of in staggered three-year terms.

A spokeswoman for the company said the board's corporate governance and nominating committees will review the board's structure in light of the majority vote in favor of a declassified board.

The $157 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, has 757,509 shares of the company.

Separately, shareholders defeated by 89% a proposal, sponsored the $600 million American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Pension Fund, calling for reincorporating the Hamilton, Bermuda-based company in the United States. Another shareholder proposal, calling for the separation of the company's chairman and CEO positions, lost by 85%.