CIÉ hired GSAM in January 2011 to manage a currency mandate, having discontinued Record Currency Management’s contract due to unsatisfactory performance. At the start of this year, GSAM had been placed on watch. GSAM had also been hired to manage a global bond portfolio, which remains unaffected by the termination of the currency mandate, according to CIÉ spokesman Tony Murray.
Murray says the money from the currency portfolio is likely to be reallocated to existing managers, but trustees have not yet worked out which mandates will be increased.
CIÉ pension fund manages €1.4 billion. Assets are split between bonds (35%), equity (45%), property (10%), alternatives (5%) and currency (5%).
These are divided between Schroder Investment Management for global equity and alternatives, Wellington Asset Management for European fixed income, Walter Scott & Partners and Aberdeen Asset Management for global equity, Irish Life Investment Managers for bonds and passive equity, and Henderson Global Investors and KBC Asset Management for property.