SEI Investments announced yesterday that it has established a partnership with Barnett Waddingham, a provider of actuarial consultancy and investment strategy services to pension funds in the United Kingdom. The partnership means that Barnett Waddingham will introduce manager-of-managers products to its to 6 billion ( c. US$9 billion) client base, working with SEI as the preferred provider.
“Our research suggests that the Manager-of-Managers approach has many attractions for our pension fund clients, particularly in the post-Myners environment ,” says Colin Richardson, Partner at Barnett Waddingham . “We believe that when clients conduct reviews of their investment strategy arrangements they should consider the merits of the Manager-of- Managers approach, and we expect that this style of investment management will become increasingly popular. Having thoroughly researched all the providers in the Manager-of-Managers market in the UK, SEI was selected as the preferred provider. In our view SEI is the best implementer of the Manager-of-Managers approach because of its independence, global reach, disciplined process and depth of research.”
Barnett Waddingham will continue to offer a full range of funding and investment strategy services including active asset management selection for pension fund trustees from each of their offices.
“Barnett Waddingham are one of the leading consultants in the UK and we are delighted to have been chosen as their Partner,” adds Kate Finch, Institutional Sales Director at SEI. ” They have been proactive in supporting the trend to the multimanager approach, but unlike some consultants they have taken the decision to avoid the potential conflict of interest in the UK by outsourcing to an independent Manager-of-Managers, rather than extending their business model to include it. Manager-of-Managers is growing in popularity amongst pension funds and the last 3 months has seen a significant increase in mandates in the UK. Our partnership with Barnett Waddingham will allow the company to recommend this alternative to traditional asset management to their clients.”
Barnett Waddingham provides actuarial consultancy and investment strategy services to pension funds from offices in London, Amersham, Cheltenham and Leeds. Around 70 consultants, including 22 qualified actuaries, advise pension schemes on funding and investment strategy.