UK - The £1.1bn (€1.6bn) Northamptonshire County Council pension fund is looking for hedge fund managers to invest approximately 4.5% of its portfolio.

As IPE understands it, this is the council's first move into hedge fund investments. Nobody at the council was available for comment. The tender information states that the £50m hedge fund mandate is "likely to be subdivided".

Earlier this year the council had received the results of an ALM study done by its actuary Mercer stating that "at the Fund's current investment strategy risk level the median expected funding level at March 2010 is 87% [up from 77% in 2005] and the current strategic allocation of the funds assets between the different asset classes (equities, bonds, property and cash) is efficient at the current level of risk".

In its February meeting the council's pensions committee decided that "therefore no fundamental change to current strategic asset allocation is required".

The committee only called for a "significant adjustment" in the equities portfolio with a shift from UK to more overseas equities and an increase of the property investment.

The deadline for participating in the tender is January 29.

Topics