NETHERLANDS - Bpf Meubel, the €1.5bn industry-wide pension funds for the Dutch furniture industry, has appointed American asset manager SEI to become its fiduciary manager.

SEI - also providing risk management and derivatives implementation - will manage €1.3bn of the fund's assets, while the remaining €200m will be kept invested in direct real estate and domestic Dutch mortgages.

Bart Heenk, managing director of the asset manager's Dutch operation, told IPE today Bpf Meubel previously managed its assets via external asset managers, but decided the fiduciary model would improve the scheme's investment and risk management.

Bpf Meubel is the first industry-wide Dutch pension fund to appoint SEI, which, since winning its first fiduciary mandate in 2005, so far in the Netherlands managed €700m of nine corporate Dutch pension funds.

According to Heenk, foreign fiduciary managers have faced a tough resistance, particularly from the Dutch industry-wide pension sector, to their arrival since the funds within the sector prefer Dutch fiduciary managers.

The news comes as SEI today announced strong global institutional sales resulting with commitments from 16 new institutional clients globally through April.

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Carolyn Bandel on +44 (0)20 7261 4622 or email carolyn.bandel@ipe.com