Irish agency hires 2 to run €300 million

DUBLIN — The National Treasury Management Agency hired Deutsche Asset Management to run €200 million ($243 million) in eurozone corporate bonds and UBS Global Asset Management to handle €100 million in U.S. small-cap equities for the €10.1 billion National Pensions Reserve Fund. Funding came from cash, said an agency spokeswoman.

Separately, the agency is completing a search for a manager to run €100 million in active international small-cap equities for the reserve fund. The agency is awaiting responses from selected money managers who were invited to bid; a hiring is expected in early October. Funding will come from cash.

GOTEBORG, Sweden — AP2 selected finalists in the 140.4 billion Swedish krona ($18 billion) plan's first search for external bond managers, which would run a total of up to 1.5 billion krona. The fund is looking for foreign and Swedish managers to run a total of 250 million to 500 million krona in U.S. government credit, 150 million to 500 million krona in global credit-ex Asia, and 150 million to 500 million krona in global aggregate-ex Asia bonds. Ole-Petter Langeland, head of fixed income, said the scheme wants to open its bond allocation to achieve better returns. AP2 manages 21.06 billion krona in Swedish and European bonds internally. Mr. Langeland would not identify the finalists, but said fund officials plan to make selections by September. Consultant Wassum Nordic assisted early on in the search but was not involved in manager selection.

STOCKHOLM — Rikard Kj%F6;rling is joining the 140 billion Swedish krona ($18 billion) AP1 pension fund as head of external management, a new position. Mr. Kjorling is client relations manager for SEB Asset Management, Stockholm; no decision has been made on his replacement.

EDINBURGH — Lothian Pension Fund hired Goldman Sachs Asset Management to run £100 million ($183 million) in U.S. enhanced indexed equities and rehired Oppenheimer Capital to handle £60 million in U.S. core equities, said Catriona McKenna, spokeswoman for the £1.9 billion plan.

Funding for the Goldman Sachs portfolio came from active U.S. equity portfolios run by INVESCO and Putnam, whose five-year contracts had expired. Fund officials made the change after reviewing the plan's U.S. equity strategy, she said. INVESCO and Putnam were invited to rebid.

LONDON — Myra Kinghorn landed the new role of chief executive officer for the U.K. Pension Protection Fund. She currently is a non-executive director of the Serious Fraud Office and member of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority. She will start in September, said Vicki Kennedy, spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions. Serena Mitchell, an OPRA spokeswoman, said Ms. Kinghorn's position will not be filled because the agency will be restructured in April.

LONDON — British pension funds increased their overseas equities investments to 27.9% of total assets as of Dec. 31, up from 25% a year earlier, according to a survey by WM Co. The survey reported the allocation to U.K. equities remained about the same — 39.2% as of Dec. 31, vs. 39.1% a year earlier. U.K. fixed income was at 12.1% vs. 12.3% on Dec. 31, 2002; while real estate was 6.4%, down from 7.3%; index-linked bonds were 8.7%, down from 9.6%; and overseas bonds were 2.6%, down from 3.9%. The remainder was in cash and in other investments.

Among larger U.K. plans, the overall equity allocation was 58% British equity and 42% international stocks as of Dec. 31, compared with 70% domestic and 30% overseas a year earlier.

Eric Lambert, head of performance and investment consultancy at WM, said there is a move toward a 50/50 split between U.K. and international equities, which he called an "unstoppable trend."

LONDON — John Minderides was hired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. as managing director to head the firm's transition management business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He will be based in London. Mr. Minderides replaces Rob Barrett, who left in April to pursue other opportunities, a spokeswoman said. Mr. Minderides was managing director at ITG Europe, a unit of New York-based ITG Group. Liz Sendewicz, an ITG spokeswoman, said the firm is searching for a replacement.

LONDON — Curt Custard joined Schroder Investment Management Ltd. as head of multiasset solutions, a new investment role at the firm. He had been a member of the multiasset team at RCM Global Investors, London, said Mark Archer, deputy chief executive. There are no plans for a replacement.