UK- Mercer Investment Consulting has added to its UK team by hiring Standard Chartered Bank’s Chris Gill who joins as a European principal and senior consultant responsible for manager research and a number of clients.

Gill was group head of pensions at Standard Chartered which he joined in 1998 and prior to that, he spent nine years in retirement consultancy.

Numbers at the Mercers UK team will receive a further boost after Steve Herbert transfers from Mercer's office in Atlanta, USA, where he was a Senior Consultant. He will be taking up a similar role in the UK involving client consulting and manager research.

He has advised a range of US-based pension plans, insurance companies and college foundations, and has co-authored research into private equity and alternative investments.

Andrew Kirton, head of Mercer’s UK investment consulting division, said: "demand for investment consulting services remains strong. The UK practice has grown by 60 percent in the last four years and we’re continuing to expand our team of over 200.”

The appointments come a fortnight after the consultant Towers Perrin announced it was closing what remained of its UK investment consulting team and forming an alliance with Frank Russell under which it will promote the latter’s multi management product for UK pension fund clients.

Says Kirton: "recent withdrawals from the investment consulting market demonstrate the need for continuous investment in manager research and intellectual capital. Mercer continues to place a strong emphasis on research."

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