Brunel Pension Partnership, Bristol, England, hired Legal & General Investment Management to run a more than £4 billion ($5.7 billion) passive equity portfolio.
The asset pool for 10 local government pension scheme funds, representing around £29 billion in assets, said in a news release that LGIM was its first money manager hire. Specifics on the kind of passive equity strategies was not disclosed.
A spokeswoman for Brunel said the pool did not have any input or support from a consultant for the search, which launched in January.
"We are delighted by the response and the excellent quality of the tenders received," says Mark Mansley, chief investment officer at Brunel Pension Partnership, in the release. "LGIM's approach to enhancing performance and their commitment to corporate governance and stewardship, along with their client-focused ethos, has contributed to making them our preferred choice."
The pool is yet to make decisions regarding managers to run passive smart beta equity and passive gilt allocations, with hires to be announced "in due course," said the release.
Brunel Pension Partnership was launched to oversee investments for the Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Environment Agency, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire pension funds after the U.K. government asked the 89 local government pension schemes in England and Wales to pool their pension assets.
