Taiwan's NT$3.53 trillion ($110 billion) Bureau of Labor Funds is looking for at least four managers to run US$3.6 billion in absolute-return global fixed-income strategies, and at least four managers to run US$2.4 billion in passive ESG-focused global equity mandates for the major pension and labor insurance funds the bureau oversees.
BLF will hire investment managers for a five-year period.
To be considered, a manager must have been established with a track record for at least three years through Sept. 30, with assets under management of $5 billion or more.
For the absolute return, global multisector bond strategies, BLF will look to select managers to run:
- four allocations of $400 million each for the bureau's $51.8 billion “new” defined contribution Labor Pension Fund;
- four allocations of $300 million each for its $25.3 billion “old” defined benefit Labor Retirement Fund;
- four mandates of $100 million each for its $21.9 billion Labor Insurance Fund; and
- four allocations of $100 million apiece for the $7.8 billion National Pension Insurance Fund.
For the global ESG “quality mix equity indexation” strategies, BLF will look to select managers to run four allocations for each of the four funds: $250 million for each allocation for the Labor Pension Fund; $150 million each for Labor Retirement Fund; and $100 million each for both the Labor Insurance Fund and National Pension Insurance Fund.
Terry Lin, section chief with the BLF's foreign investment division, said in a telephone interview that the $6 billion in allocations to global bonds and equities represents new money coming in that the bureau is looking to put to work, rather than an asset allocation shift.
The respective allocations will represent the bureau's first mandates for environmental, social and governance-focused equities and absolute-return bond strategies.
Application documents, in English as well as Chinese, are available on the BLF's website.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m. Taipei time on Jan. 16.
