UK - Deutsche Asset Management and Schroder Investment Management have lost out with the 102 million-pound (146.5 million-euro) pension scheme of Avon Cosmetics switching from a balanced to specialist strategy.

The move comes amid the backdrop of DeAM, the institutional fund arm of Deutsche Bank, revealing it lost 13 billion euros in assets in the third quarter. Schroders meanwhile, has said it lost four billion pounds (5.9 billion euros) in balanced mandates in the first half.

Gartmore Investment Management, Wellington Management International and UBS Global Asset Management have been appointed following an ‘asset allocation revision’, an official of the cosmetics company said.

UBS is to manage a property brief, while Wellington was awarded an overseas equities mandate and Gartmore gains fixed income.

Schroders declined to comment while Deutsche was not available for comment. UBS and Wellington were also unavailable for comment.

Gartmore said that Avon Cosmetics Pension Plan, together with the BUPA Pension Scheme have invested 70 million pounds in Gartmore fixed income including the company’s Institutional Corporate Bond Fund.

Gartmore added its four year-old institutional corporate bond fund, managed by Karl Bergqwist, had posted “top quartile performance” since inception in May 2000 and had outperformed its index by 0.92% per annum over the last two years.

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