ICELAND- Iceland’s largest pension fund, LSR, has appointed MFS Investment Management to run a segregated global equity mandate that will eventually be worth $100m.

MFS Joins Morgan Stanley, Dresdner RCM and Allianz Capital as segregated managers at the Icelandic civil servants’ fund.

LSR invests around 20% of its $1.3bn assets overseas and is aiming to increase this to 40% by 2007.

Recent reform means funds are now able to invest half their assets outside the country. Between 1995 and 2001, the proportion of foreign assets in Icelandic funds grew more than ten-fold to 21%.

David Mace, vice president of European institutional business for MFS in London says: “what they were looking to do by adding a fourth segregated account was to add a different style.

“Most of the managers they have right now are aggressive growth. Our approach is more of a medium-risk growth portfolio with a particular emphasis on valuation techniques and management style.”

MFS is known predominantly for its US business. Of its £30bn in institutional assets, 15% or £4.5bn is in Europe, 5% in Asia and 80% in the US.

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