UK - Merrill Lynch Investment Management risks losing its third mandate in a month with the north-west London local authority of Harrow putting out to tender a 90 million pound (141.14 million euro) global equity mandate which it currently manages.

John Fenwick, chief accountant at the local authority, attributed the decision to “Merrill’s performance, and a concern over the impact of recent staff changes at the investment manager”.

Merrill Lynch did not comment.

MLIM currently runs a balanced mandate for the 250 million pound local authority fund, and it has been proposed that MLIM will retain the property and bond portfolios, leaving the 90 million pound global equity mandate up for grabs. Fenwick added that MLIM had been invited to reapply.

UBS Global Asset Management also manages a balanced mandate for the local authority, and is being fully retained.

In the past month MLIM has lost mandates with Essex County Council’s 2.35 billion euro pension fund and the University of Bristol’s 103 million pound pension fund.

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