EUROPE - A European investor is looking to commit $175m (€140m) to a global emerging market equity mandate, using IPE-Quest.

In search QN1245, the investor asks that the asset manager outperform the MSCI Emerging Markets index by 3% per annum through a fundamental stock-selection process.

While preferring a minimum track record of three years, the search said the investor was "open-minded" about track records, saying that newly launched strategies would be considered, as well as regional managers.

The investor is seeking actively managed long-only products, with quantitative and multi-manager strategies not being considered.

Interested parties should submit their performance data gross of fees by 11 July.

In other news, the local authority fund for Islington is looking to increase its real estate exposure by as much as £20m (€24m), tendering for a manager to oversee a residential real estate mandate.

The tender comes after the scheme previously expressed an interest in the Mill Group's Investors in Housing fund (IIH), but was unable to come to an agreement on details surrounding its loan facility.

Mill Group's fund, hoping to attract £200m of initial capital, has yet to launch.

However, according to minutes from the council's pensions sub-committee, a segregated mandate is now under consideration, with as much as £20m of capital earmarked for investment should it go ahead.

The minutes said the segregated mandate would allow for control of a number of "key risks" in light of the IIH fund being a "new and untested strategy".

This week's tender, for which interested parties should contact bfinance by 6 August, seeks to allocate between £10m and £20m to a single residential manager.

Meanwhile, the Royal County of Berkshire local government scheme is looking to appoint one or several equity managers to a growth equity framework worth as much as £70m.

The tender said it preferred segregated accounts, but would also consider UCITS-compliant pooled vehicles for investments of between £10m and £70m.

A spokesman for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, the scheme's administering authority, was unable to say whether the allocation would be in addition to existing equity investments, or whether one or more managers would see their assets reduced.

The five-year framework expects to appoint as many as 10 managers, with further information available from the local tender website.

The £1.4bn scheme invested around a third of all assets in global equity at the end of March last year.

In appointments, Punter Southall has won a contract from Scotland's Forth Ports to provide actuarial and investment consultancy services for the £250m pension scheme.

Lastly, the University of Leicester is looking to appoint an actuarial consultant for its Pension and Assurance Scheme.

The three-year contract, which would cover all aspects of administration, consultancy and actuarial services, would run for as many as five years.

Interested parties have until the beginning of August to contact the university for further information.

The IPE.com news team is unable to answer any further questions about IPE-Quest tender notices to protect the interests of clients conducting the search. To obtain information directly from IPE-Quest, please contact Jayna Vishram on +44 (0) 20 3465 9330 or email jayna.vishram@ipe-quest.com.