State Street subsidiary WM is to work with Standard & Poor’s to provide UK pension fund trustees with independent performance assessment services.
Standard & Poor’s has developed new services for launch in May 2004, which aim to provide an independent and objective assessment of the major risk decisions considered by pension fund trustees, whose role and responsibilities are increasing significantly under new legislation and the application of the Myners’ principles in the UK market.
The new services aim to ensure a consistent analysis of the decisions made within pension funds, while taking the unique aspects of each fund into account. The main elements of the new services assess the credit strength of the sponsor, the liability and asset assumptions underpinning the strategic benchmark, and the implementation of the investment arrangements.
The WM Company will contribute pension fund evaluation and analysis to the new services, to provide both the quantitative assessment of individual manger performance and investment analysis of individual pension funds. “The WM Company’s recognised expertise in fund analysis made it the obvious choice in supporting the Standard & Poor’s initiative”, says Jim MacLachlan, head of European pension services at Standard & Poor’s.
“The WM Company’s contribution capitalises on our core strengths. We are delighted that Standard & Poor’s has chosen The WM Company to contribute to these landmark services for UK pension funds at a time when transparency of information is increasingly vital,” adds Michael Walsh, managing director of The WM Company. “This initiative will enable scheme sponsors, members and advisers to benefit from a transparent and impartial assessment of the investment management of pension schemes. It builds on our industry-wide knowledge and experience combined with our pension fund performance evaluation expertise. We see our participation in this exciting breakthrough as a major move forward in our strategy of building WM’s value-added services”