IRELAND – Fixed income manager PIMCO Europe says it has been awarded two mandates – one worth €60m – from the Unilever Superannuation Fund and the Allianz Group Pension Scheme.

This boosts the growth of total assets managed by PIMCO for Irish pension funds to more than €300m.

“Ireland is an important market for PIMCO and we are very pleased to have won these mandates. We look forward to working with Unilever and Allianz Ireland,” said PIMCO Europe’s managing director Joe McDevitt.

Mercer Investment Consulting advised the two defined benefit schemes.

The Unilever Superannuation Fund - valued at €200m by ‘International Pension Funds and their Advisors’ – is sponsored by consumer goods giant Unilever.

Its roughly €60m mandate will be benchmarked against the Merrill Lynch sovereign Euroland over a five-year index, according to a press statement released today.

Meanwhile, the Allianz Group Pension Scheme – pegged at €160m – is one of Ireland’s largest general insurance companies with approximately 850 members, 224 pensioners and 413 deferred pensioners.

The scheme’s investment managers, KBC Asset Management and Irish Life Investment Managers, both told IPE that they are still acting for the group.

“We are committed to building further on our position in the Irish market by continuing to provide innovative solutions for our clients, who face an increasingly challenging pensions environment,” said McDevitt.

In other news, consulting actuaries Punter Southall today announced it has won a hat trick of mandates from new Scottish clients with combined assets under management of £20.5m.

Three pension funds have awarded the mandates dealing with the provision of actuarial and administrative services.

The pension scheme of TGI – the manufacturer of high quality loud speakers – was among the clients. It has £12m in AUM and 400 members.

The others include the pension schemes of bedding manufacturer, Polywarm Products Ltd., and shipbroker Stewart Group that has £5m in scheme assets.

“These mandate wins are testament to the quality of our service and our growing reputation in our field,” said Punter Southall’s Glasgow office partner Andy Thomson.

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