GLOBAL - The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is looking to hire a full actuarial and benefit consultancy services firm for the £1.6bn (€1.7bn) East Riding Pension Fund (ERPF), part of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

The mandate encompasses supplying services to the four unitary councils in the ERPF and any other ERPF employer throughout the duration of the four year contract term, with no guarantee of the volume of work.
 
The value of the contract is estimated to be £600,000-£700,000 over four years, with a two-year extension beyond this possible.

The ERPF last conducted a triennial valuation in March 2010 and if the option to extend is exercised, the council would utilize the firm for two triennial evaluations.
 
RFPs must be obtained by 24 October and tenders submitted by 3 November 2010.
 
In other news, State Street Global Advisors has won the mandate to manage more than €60m in active fixed income assets for the Fondo Previdenziale Pegaso, a public pension scheme for employees of Italian gas and electric utilities.
 
Bill Street, co-head of the firm's global fixed income team said: "The mandate will be managed by State Street's active fixed income team in London."

Street's strategies combine fundamental and quantitative research, benchmark analysis and risk management.

Finally, Franklin Templeton Investment Management (FTIM) was confirmed as the investment manager and administrator for the €2.7bn Romanian restitution fund Fondul Proprietatea.

At the fund's extraordianry general meeting, plans to list on the Bucharest  stock exchange were also approved.
 
As reported in March this year, FTIM was appointed as the investment manager for the fund, established in 2005 to compensate Romanians whose properties were confiscated by the former communist government.

The company has a mandate to invest in the shares of Romanian companies, with a small amount also also going to international companies with some Romanian exposure.

The fund will list on the Bucharest Stock Exchange within 90 days of its registration with the National Securities Commission, a move welcomed by Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton emerging markets group, as he believed it would attract foreign instiutional investors to the market.

Shareholders further approved a dividend distribution representing the fund's net profit for 2008 and 2009, while Deloitte & Touche were appointed as the fund's auditors.