Welsh Funds choose BlackRock to manage £2.8bn of passive funds
BlackRock has been chosen to run nearly £2.8bn of passive assets by the eight Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) known collectively as the Welsh Funds.
There are currently eight LGPS schemes in Welsh Funds with combined assets under management of over £11bn.
BlackRock's appointment comes after Welsh Funds decided to combine around 20 passive mandates from three managers - BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors and Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) - into a single brief.
Aon Hewitt, the consultancy that advised on the deal, said the move would result in "considerable fee savings" for the funds once the transition has taken place.
Head of public sector investment consultancy Dave Lyons: "In addition to the quality and sustainability of the bids received, the Welsh Funds were able to achieve considerable cost savings through undertaking this ground-breaking exercise, which will compound up over the long-term to deliver many millions of pounds of additional value to them."
BlackRock head of UK local authorities Christopher Head (pictured above) said they were "confident for the long-term as the funds look to meet their liabilities for Welsh pension fund members in the future".
A spokesman for Welsh Funds added: "We were impressed by the breadth, depth and quality of the bids submitted, as well as the attention paid by bidders to proposing solutions to meet the specific circumstances of the Welsh Funds.
"Our search was open to any potential provider who wished to submit a proposal and we believe that this helped to support an extremely competitive process, which was also reflected in terms of pricing."
The eight LGPS schemes which make up Welsh Funds are: Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund; City and County of Swansea Pension Fund; Clwyd Pension Fund; Dyfed Pension Fund; Greater Gwent Pension Fund; Gwynedd Pension Fund; Powys Pension Fund and Rhondda Cynon Taf Pension Fund.
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