DENMARK - Denmark's largest occupational pension fund administrator, the DKK116bn (€15.6bn) Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA), has awarded a DKK1.85bn US enhanced equity mandate to Intech.

With the mandate the PKA has completed a shift from passive mandates in the US equities market to enhanced management.

PKA portfolio manager Niels Ladefoged told IPE that the fund had not been disappointed with the passive mandate returns but added that "we just think that we can get a tiny little bit more from this type of mandate".

PKA now has four enhanced managers on US equity mandates. In addition to Intech, which is a subsidiary of Janus Capital, they are Quantitative Management Associates (QMA), State Street and Goldman Sachs.

They manage 45% of PKA's equity portfolio. Ladegofed said that no more US managers would be appointed as the portfolio was now "fully diversified in the US".

Denver-based Intech's brief will be benchmarked against the S&P 500 and "in accordance with PKA's ethical guidelines", PKA stated.

The deal is Intech's first institutional mandate in Denmark, according to David Schofield, president of the company's international division.

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