
FX transaction costs halved
UK - The £3bn London Regional Transport Pension Fund has halved its foreign exchange transaction costs by adopting Record Currency Management monitoring services.
The fund has been working with Record Currency Management for the last two years to see whether its custodians and investment managers have been giving them a good deal on foreign currency rates.
LRT fund secretary Chris Angell said: “We are now in a position to give our trustees the clearest possible indication of what we consider ‘best execution’ to mean as far as foreign currency is concerned. I think there is often too much ambiguity in this area.
“Whether funds ask their custodians or their managers to execute their currency transactions, I believe pension schemes have a clear duty to their trustees to be absolutely certain about the transaction costs they are paying.”
The Myners report – which is due for review this March – highlighted transaction as an area where pension schemes should seek to obtain better value for money.
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