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Contact:
Jan Schapira
Tel:
+44
20
7178 3127
UK
London,
6 October 2009
Mercer has been appointed by The Co-operative Group’s PACE pension scheme to provide implemented consulting services for the alternatives investments in the £5bn pension fund which will be phased in over two years to represent 13 percent of the total fund.
Mercer’s solution was chosen as it offered a cost-effective and transparent approach to building up a well diversified, complex portfolio of alternative assets within a robust governance and operational structure. Mercer’s global investment research capability, which supports its investment management service, was another factor.
Tom Murphy, head of Mercer’s investment management business, commented: “Through our implemented investment service, we take responsibility for all the manager selection decisions, although our clients can see all our underlying managers at any point in time, and have full transparency on fees. Importantly, we can provide considerable savings on fees compared to other multi-asset solutions and traditional hedge fund-of-funds. “
Mike Thorpe, Pension Finance & Risk Controller at The Co-operative Group, said: “We found that Mercer’s solution offered benefits on many fronts. Given the specialist nature of the alternative investment market, it was particularly strong from a governance perspective, and we were reassured by the depth of Mercer’s research that underpins the selection and monitoring of managers.”
Notes for editors
The Co-operative Group is the UK’s largest mutual retailer, offering services from food and finance to travel, online shopping and healthcare. It is the fifth largest food retailer, the third largest retail pharmacy chain, the number one provider of funeral services and the travel retailer which offers the largest range of holidays on the high street.. The Co-operative Group also has strong market positions in banking and insurance. It employs 123,000 people, has 4.5 million members and over 5,000 retail outlets.
Mercer is a leading global provider of consulting, outsourcing and investment services. Mercer works with clients to solve their most complex benefit and human capital issues, designing and helping manage health, retirement and other benefits. It is a leader in benefit outsourcing. Mercer’s investment services include investment consulting and multi-manager investment management. Mercer’s 18,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., which lists its stock (ticker symbol: MMC) on the New York, Chicago and London stock exchanges.In the area of investments, Mercer offers clients a full spectrum of services from manager research and advice on investment strategy to fully delegated implemented solutions, as well as customised guidance at every stage of the investment decision, risk management and investment monitoring process. Mercer’s investment consulting business comprises 850 investment professionals and provides advice and recommendations to over 2,700 clients with assets in excess of $3.5 trillion. Mercer’s implementation business has over 100 full time investment professionals, a client base in excess of 500 institutional investors and assets under implementation of around $25bn. Its implemented solutions include delegated manager selection as well as delegated investment strategy decisions and discretionary de-risking. visit |
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Jan Schapira
Renay Logan
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+44 20 7178 3127
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