Eimear Walsh
Europe Head of Investments, Wealth
In today’s evolving environment, the demand for specialization is greater than ever. Mercer’s recent acquisitions of Cardano and SECOR Asset Management, as at November 2024 and May 2025 respectively, directly respond to this market shift.
By establishing the Mercer Global Investments Partnerships Group (GIPG), bolstered and led by SECOR, we can better support investors and especially large asset owners that increasingly seek providers who understand their internal governance, who can engage on a peer level with chief investment officers (CIOs), and who can craft solutions across regions and risk profiles.
Additionally, our newly enhanced capability to invest directly in global securities via our Direct Investment Unit (DIU) underpinned by both Cardano’s and SECOR trading capabilities will augment our highly-rated manager allocation strategies from across the asset management industry.1
The combined result is the ability to deliver complex asset management and specialized portfolio solutions to our clients – based on their specific goals and underpinned by our investment advisory heritage, our deep knowledge of the global investment universe, and our capabilities across research, advice, and solutions.
At Mercer, our ability to rapidly move from investment idea to execution gives clients a critical edge in capturing market opportunities. We integrate real-time execution, via DIU, into the investment process to minimize implementation risk and improve portfolio efficiency.
With our proprietary, in-house trading infrastructure, clients benefit from seamless, cross-asset execution that reduces friction and accelerates speed-to-market, especially during volatile or time-sensitive periods.2
We function as an extension of your internal team, bringing institutional sophistication and flexibility to your investment program. Every relationship is customized to your governance model, risk tolerance, constraints, and preferred level of delegation.
From tailored reporting and training to bespoke analytical support, we adapt our engagement model to fit your unique needs. This ensures that every aspect of our service—from design through execution—aligns with your strategic objectives and organizational structure.
Founded in 2000, the Cardano team are specialists in providing fiduciary management, investment advisory services, and liability-driven investing and derivatives solutions to a range of institutional asset owners. With an entrepreneurial and solutions-driven mindset, the team focuses on providing a tailor-made service designed around a client’s stakeholders, objectives and governance model to help deliver positive investment outcomes.
SECOR began its life as General Motors Asset Management, managing the auto giant’s in-house pension assets. It has retained that in-house, asset-owner DNA, built around a unique perspective into how the fiduciary asset management relationship should work, especially for large multi-national clients. The business thinks holistically about what a client needs, working with them side-by-side as true partners to deliver a ‘white glove’, tailored end-to-end solution led by a senior and experienced team.
Since 2010, SECOR’s team of over 40 colleagues has been helping large and sophisticated institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, endowments and family offices around the world, manage their portfolio allocation and risk.
Thanks to the legacy of these acquisitions, more than just a collaboration, Mercer’s relationship with clients is a true partnership. At Mercer, we have the scale, the expertise, and now the enhanced execution capabilities to help organizations achieve their unique financial objectives.