LDI strategies already represent big business in Europe, since mark-to-market accounting has been implemented in the U.K. and the Netherlands. Combined, these firms manage about $87 billion in LDI strategies, mostly from European clients.
BGI, the leading asset gatherer in LDI, manages about $40 billion in such strategies, mostly for European clients, including about $30 billion for clients in the U.K., said Lance Berg, a BGI spokesman.
SSgA manages some $20 billion, about 80% for European clients, said Alistair Lowe, senior managing director and director of the firm's global asset allocation and currency teams.
GSAM's fixed-income team manages about $5.4 billion in LDI strategies, which includes assets from European clients, said Andrea Raphael, a firm spokeswoman. She said assets in LDI strategies grew 30% in 2005 and a further 20% since the beginning of 2006.
BlackRock manages about $20 billion in LDI strategies for clients in both the U.S. and Europe, said Barbara Novick, a managing director at the firm.
According to Greenwich Associates, Greenwich, Conn., 3% of U.S. corporate plans have already implemented some type of asset-liability management strategy. Also, 12% of U.S. corporate pension plans are planning to implement one, and an additional 16% of the respondents to the survey said they would consider such strategies if the Financial Accounting Standards Board does implement mark-to-market accounting standards for pension assets. The findings were part of the firm's 2006 Institutional Asset Allocation Research Study, which surveyed more then 2,000 plan sponsors with an average of $250 million in assets.