UK – The £1.8bn (€2.6bn) Staffordshire County Council Pension Fund has appointed six new equity managers and one bond manager following a management shake-up and structure review.

The fund told IPE that it reduced its UK equity component “marginally” and increased its overseas equity holdings. It also enlarged the passive management side of its US equity holdings to a wider global passive mandate.

Hymans Robertson and bfinance were involved in the appointment process. Two unnamed independent advisers also advised the scheme.

A spokesperson said the move “involved more than the normal triennial review”.

In the most recent appointment, Russell Investment Group replaced Invesco Asset Management on a £110m active Asia-Pacific equities brief.

Insight Investment also won a £250m global bond active mandate, the incumbent being Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch Asset Management.

Standard Life Investments and Goldman Sachs replaced UK equity managers Baring Asset Management, Deutsche Asset Management and Jupiter Asset Management.

Meanwhile, AXA Rosenberg replaced the scheme’s European equity manager, DeAM. Putnam Investment Management – which managed a passive US mandate – was replaced by State Street, who now manages a wider global passive mandate.

Alliance Bernstein was appointed global equity manager – the first time that one has been appointed by the fund. This followed a “competitive process”, said the spokesperson.

The scheme stated that the review affected managers more than the fund’s equity/bond split.

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