River and Mercantile (R&M) has secured close to £2bn in new pension scheme mandates over recent months, including a fiduciary mandate from the £210m Dover Harbour Board Scheme.
The tender process for the Dover Harbour Board Scheme was intermediated by third-party evaluator, EY, which helped the trustees form their current and future key investment requirements and preferences, also subsequently advising on the selection process.
Dover chair of trustees, Bob Holmes, emphasised that R&M, which has acted as the scheme’s investment advisor since 2009, helped the scheme to “successfully overhaul” its investment and liability management strategy and implement "innovative solutions" that resulted in an improved funding position with less risk, despite challenging market conditions.
“Moving to a fiduciary mandate builds on what we have achieved together thus far and will allow us to manage our investments even more efficiently and meet the cashflow requirements of the scheme as we move towards the achievement of our long-term funding objective,” he continued.
EY senior manager, William Compton, added: “It was absolutely critical for the trustees to be able to visualise the investment potential, operational rigour and cost benefits a fiduciary manager could bring; our independence, deep knowledge of the industry and clear methodology allowed the trustees to make their decision with ease and confidence.”
The appointment was made ahead of the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) June deadline for the retendering of fiduciary managers, which has seen nearly a quarter of trustees looking to re-tender at the last minute.
Commenting on the recent spate of appointments, R&M Solutions co-head, Ajeet Manjrekar, stated: “We are proud to have won nearly £2bn in mandate appointments in recent months, which is testament to the strength of our proposition and the strong track record of our team in customising our offer to meet schemes’ specific needs.
“It is encouraging that during the retender process, we have received a very positive response from both existing and new clients and I am extremely encouraged by the number of new clients we have won in the last year.
“We were one of the first fiduciary managers in the UK and consequently have a long track record. As demand for delegated services grows, our longevity means we are well placed to benefit from this trend which I believe will only get stronger.”
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