Nine Equity Mandates Awarded from France’s Biggest Public Pension

(April 3, 2014) — French public pension, Fonds de Réserve des Restraites, has awarded nine small and mid-cap equity mandates following a nine-month tender.

The mandates, which collectively account for €800 million, were split into two tranches: pan-European small cap equities and French small and mid-cap equities.

The first tranche was split between four managers: Fidelity Gestion, Montanaro Asset Management, Standard Life Investments, and Threadneedle Asset Management.

The French small and mid-cap mandates were won by CM-CIC Asset Management, CPR Asset Management, Generali Investments Europe, ODDO Asset Management, and Sycomore Asset Management.

Fonds de Réserve des Restraites is France’s largest public sector pension plan, and oversees €36.6 billion.

In a note published on Monday, the pension fund indicated there had been strong competition for the mandates, adding it was “very pleased with the number and quality of proposals received”.

In December last year, the fund awarded EIRIS a two-year mandate to become an extra-financial risk analysis provider for its entire portfolio, and in January 2014, it launched a request for proposal for selecting a financial manager for its global exposure passive mandate.

The fund’s CIO Salwa Boussoukaya-Nasr entered aiCIO’s Power 100 for the first time in 2013. In May 2012, she became the third CIO since 2007 to take the helm of the fund, having initially joined as head of asset allocation in mid-2006.

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