BlackRock has been appointed by Equitable Life to provide investment and risk management services to the troubled company.

Equitable Life, which in 2000 was forced to put itself up for sale to fulfil pensions promises following a lack of funds to payout to holders of the Guaranteed Annuity Rate (GAR), has 400,000 policyholders and group scheme members.

From October 2010, BlackRock will aim to maximise returns on £5.7bn of assets, and at the same time satisfy Equitable Life’s regulatory solvency ratios.

This is the latest step in recreating value for policyholders following a new third party administration contract with HCL to provide administration services to the group, and a 5.5 per cent policy value increase in early 2010.

“Maximising returns on policyholder investments is one of the Society’s three key strategic priorities,” explained Chris Wiscarson, chief executive at Equitable Life.

“Today, we have taken another important step forward by appointing BlackRock, a great new partner by any standard.”

BlackRock vice chairman, Rich Kushel, added: “We are proud to work in partnership with Equitable Life. We believe that our experience in sterling fixed income, in asset management for insurance companies, and in risk management will significantly support Equitable Life’s strategy for policyholders.”

The news follows a promise by the former Labour Government in January 2010 to form a scheme to grant policyholders most affected by the debacle ex-gratia payments, in response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s Report.

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