(Updates to amend Alpha reference) GERMANY - Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), Germany’s largest pension fund with 30 billion euros in assets, plans to award up to 200 million euros worth of fixed income mandates over the next two years, IPE has learned.

Sources familiar with BVK’s plans said the pension fund was looking to invest 100 million euros in high-yield bonds in 2005 and between 50-100 million in emerging market bonds in 2006.

The sources said BVK had already instructed Mercer Investment Consulting in Germany to find the appropriate asset managers for the fixed income mandates.

A spokesman for BVK in Munich declined comment on the developments.

Late last year, BVK completed the transfer of its institutional fund assets to a so-called “master fund” model. Under the model, back-office administration of all BVK funds are centralised within one provider. In BVK’s case, that provider is Universal Investment, Germany’s leading provider of master funds.

In 2003, BVK, which is actually an amalgamation of 12 separate pension funds, achieved an average return of 6% on its assets.

The Bavarian-based pension fund currently has 1.2 million members, most of whom are skilled professionals. BVK is also the pension fund for Bavaria’s parliament as well as the state’s arts professionals. Of the membership, 20% are retired.

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