Goldman Sachs Asset Management has agreed to follow the cost transparency code set up by the UK’s £261bn (€299bn) Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

In a statement published on the LGPS Advisory Board’s website, the company said it wanted to “encourage full and transparent reporting to clients”.

According to 2016-17 annual reports, at the end of March last year Goldman Sachs ran mandates for at least eight LGPS funds in England and Wales.

In addition, Australian financial giant Macquarie has signed up its transition management business to the code.

Macquarie was one of six transition managers appointed to the LGPS via its national framework at the start of this year. Of these six, Northern Trust and Russell Investments have yet to formally sign up to the cost code.

Earlier this month the LGPS announced that most of its major asset management suppliers had signed the code, covering more than £150bn of assets.

The current disclosure template caters for listed equities and bonds, but a private equity template is expected imminently.

Brookfield buys private debt specialist

Brookfield Asset Management, a $285bn (€232bn) alternatives manager, has acquired a 25% stake in the parent company of London-based private debt specialist LCM Partners.

Under the terms of the agreement, announced this morning, Brookfield has purchased a 25% stake in Link Financial Group with the option of buying a further 24.9%. Link buys up distressed debt in several markets across Europe, and LCM is its investment management arm.

The transaction is aimed at growing LCM’s asset management and credit servicing businesses, according to a joint statement from the companies.

Paul Burdell, CEO of both LCM and Link Financial Group, said Brookfield was an “ideal strategic partner” to help the company develop new investment opportunities and access a larger client base.

Ralf Rank, managing partner at Brookfield, added: “We look forward to working closely with LCM’s management team to support the growth of its platform via expansion into new markets, diversification of its product offering, and through pursuing investment opportunities leveraging the capabilities of both firms.” 

Link Financial Group will continue to operate independently following the transaction, the companies said. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Lyxor’s ultra-low-cost ETFs 

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider Lyxor has today launched what it claims are the lowest cost ETFs available in Europe. 

It has launched UK and US equity index trackers priced at 4 basis points (0.04%). Two other new funds, tracking the MSCI Japan and MSCI World indices, are priced at 0.12%.

The ETFs form part of Lyxor’s 16-strong “core” range. The company said it had cut prices for the 12 existing funds, bringing products tracking European equities, UK gilts and US treasury bond indices to 0.07%. The group’s US inflation-linked bond ETF now costs 0.09%, while products tracking the MSCI Japan, MSCI World and MSCI EMU indices cost 0.12%.

The new ETFs launched on the German stock exchange today and will list in London tomorrow.

 

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