UK - Lancashire County Council has entered framework agreements with 11 investment managers over a global unconstrained equity portfolio potentially worth £1.5bn (€1.9bn).

The framework agreement, first tendered in October last year, sought to appoint 3-10 managers to the overseas mandates worth £100m to £500m.

According to minutes from a recent pension fund committee meeting held by the local authority, 12 managers were initially selected for the framework.

The minutes continued: "The Treasurer had, on the unanimous recommendation of the Investment Panel, approved an initial allocation in respect of active equity mandates to five of the managers."

According to the mandate award notice now published, managers included in the framework are Baillie Gifford, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Natixis Global Asset Management, Robeco Group and MFS International.

Additionally, Canada's AFG Investments, Australian Magellan Asset Management, William Blair International, BlackRock and Newton Investment Management were selected, with Oldfield Partners rounding out the list.

In the previously released committee meeting minutes, it was noted that the five managers selected to receive capital had been chosen "specifically to achieve maximum complementarity between manager styles", although a spokeswoman for the scheme was unable to name the capital recipients at the time of publication.

According to the most recently published annual report from the end of March last year, only Newton had a mandate with the fund, valued at £638m at the time, accounting for 15% of the local authority fund's £4.3bn in assets.

In other news, Cornwall Council has launched a second tender in as many weeks for its pension scheme, looking to appoint as many as two managers to an active diversified growth mandate.

The £1.1bn fund said it would allocate as much as £140m to the mandate, with the award likely to start at £50m initially.

While it would prefer a pooled fund, the council said it would consider a segregated account approach.

Managers should apply by 19 September, with additional information available from consultancy bfinance's London office.