SEI, a fiduciary manager, has announced that it has been appointed as Fiduciary Manager to the GBP24 million Habitat UK Pension and Life Assurance Plan (Habitat).
As Fiduciary Manager, SEI will replace Mercer, the pension schemes existing investment consultant, and all the individual investment managers with an integrated approach combining advice and implementation.
SEI will be responsible for advising on asset and liability matching strategies, constructing an efficient investment portfolio, selecting managers to run the portfolio and, monitoring and replacing investment managers via the SEI Manager of Managers investment process.
The mandate is also a clear indication of the growing popularity of Fiduciary Management in the UK.
In addition to the defined benefit pension plan SEI is to manage Habitats defined contribution plan, providing both advice and implementation via a range of manager-of-managers funds.
Commenting on the decision to appoint SEI, Malcolm Curzon, Chairman of Trustees of the Habitat UK Pension and Life Assurance Plan said:
We opted for a Fiduciary Management approach because as a trustee body we wanted the opportunity to be able to focus on strategic issues whilst outsourcing the day to day pensions management to an expert partner. We also felt that an approach combining advice and implementation could provide cost savings and ensure more focus on achieving our overall goals both for the company and the pension scheme.