The Cumbria County Council Local Government Pension Scheme, Carlisle, England, is looking to hire an active global equities manager to run £125 million ($242.8 million), an active currency manager to run £20 million and at least one alternatives manager to run a total of £100 million in alternatives, according to Keith Fitzpatrick, investment officer. For alternatives, officials of the £1.1 billion fund want to invest in one or more of the following asset classes: private equity, hedge funds, commodities and infrastructure. The changes are being made to diversify the portfolio and reduce risk, according to an e-mail from Mr. Fitzpatrick, and are the result of a recent asset allocation study.
The fund plans to reduce its U.K. equity, global equity and fixed-income exposure, and it is switching to an active from a passive global equities strategy, Mr. Fitzpatrick said. The balance of funding will come from cash. Mr. Fitzpatrick declined to specify amounts for the strategies or identify the managers currently running those portfolios.
RFIs are available from Mercer Investment Consulting, and selected managers will be invited to submit proposals in January 2007. The fund will appoint new managers by the end of April 2007.
