Council Seeks First Currency Manager

Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking to appoint its first currency manager for its GBP1 billion pension scheme by the beginning of the year.

Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking to appoint its first currency manager for its GBP1 billion pension scheme by the beginning of the year. The council has tendered a GBP30 million actively managed pooled currency mandate. The move follows a regular routine review of its asset allocation, which recommended portfolio diversification, said John Hopwood, chief loans and investment officer in Cambridge. It is also expecting to enhance returns, he added. The new mandate will be funded by reducing its 75% equity exposure, Hopwood explained. UBS Global Asset Management and Schroder Investment Management run the fund’s equity portfolio. Nigel Taylor, head of U.K. institutional business at UBS, and Richard King, spokesman at Schroder, did not immediately return calls.

The deadline to participate is Oct. 19 and consultant Hymans Robertson is assisting. The fund invests the remainder of its assets in fixed income and real estate with incumbent Aberdeen Asset Management.