As from the 1st of January 2007, Pensioenfonds voor de Grafische Bedrijven (PGB) has outsourced about 90 percent of its equity portfolio, equivalent to €3.6 billion to specialised external managers. The other investments remain internally managed. Grafische Bedrijfsfondsen (GBF) is the asset manager of PGB.
PGB’s assets are in excess of €9 billion. With its selected network of 12 external managers with 16 different mandates, PGB aims to further improve the returns. As investments are being allocated to an increasing number of different equity categories, there is a growing demand for specialised managers. By deploying different managers, each having their own investment style, the probability of a stable out-performance improves.
As to equity management, GBF focuses on: Strategical and tactical positioning, internal equity management for Europe excluding the UK and the selection and monitoring of external equity managers. Regarding the latter, the organisation is being advised, amongst others by Altis Investment Management AG. Given GBF’s focus on its core business, the back- office of the investments has been outsourced to Kas Bank N.V.
“In the world of pensions, we as investors are always looking for extra return,” says Dirk Wieman, the Director of Investments at GBF. “PGB strives to a structural outperformance of its equity portfolio relative to its benchmark. This positively contributes to keeping pension premiums relatively low. Only qualified managers are able to realise extra return on specific markets over the years. Therefore, PGB has chosen to work with different mandates in a global network of external managers. We are confident that we have selected the best equity managers per specific region . We have mandated those managers to invest on the basis of an agreed-upon benchmark and tracking error. Managers are free to deviate from the benchmark within the restrictions of the mandate. This relative freedom, combined with their expertise, should enable managers to outperform the benchmark.”