People’s makes in-house team its main investment adviser
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The trustees of the People’s Pension, currently one of the largest defined contribution master trusts with £32bn, have appointed People’s Investment Ltd as their main investment adviser.
The appointment was made as PIL received authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority and means Barnett Waddingham will no longer be the main investment adviser to the trustees.
People’s plans to have 23 investment professionals by March, overseen by chief investment officer Dan Mikulskis, a former investment consultant. The new hires have expertise across banking, hedge funds, asset management, asset owners and consulting and mean the team is doubling in size in just over a year, the provider noted.
The master trust expects to have £50bn in assets under management in the next four years and aims to start investing in private markets later this year.
Trustee chair Mark Condron said: “It has been great to see the development of the investment team within People’s Partnership, and we believe we are now at a stage where it is appropriate for the team to take on the primary advisory role to the trustee.”
He thanked Barnett Waddingham, crediting the consultancy for helping the master trust be in a “strong position”.
“A close partnership between an investment committee and in-house experts is a key part of creating a great asset owner, said Chris Fagan, chair of the trustee investment committee.
Mikulskis argued that advising the trustees directly would enable the investment team to find and implement new ideas more efficiently and quickly and create additional value for members.
“It will enable us to develop the shared bond between executive and trustee board, essential to the long-term success of asset owners,” he said.
The idea that the in-house investment team should double up as investment adviser has been floated for the Local Government Pension Scheme in a recent consultation. While asset pools are strongly in favour, consultants have warned of a lack of competition and conflicts of interest.
