T-Mobile picks Blackrock for fiduciary role

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15 Jun 2017

The trustees of the T-Mobile International UK Pension Scheme have appointed Blackrock as its fiduciary manager.

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The trustees of the T-Mobile International UK Pension Scheme have appointed Blackrock as its fiduciary manager.

The trustees of the T-Mobile International UK Pension Scheme have appointed Blackrock as its fiduciary manager.

The mandate puts the firm in charge of investment strategy and decision-making for the mobile phone operator’s UK defined benefit (DB) scheme. The asset manager has a brief to work to close the £100m scheme’s deficit.

The investment strategy for the scheme is divided into three areas: liability driven investment to reduce liability risk, alternatives and equities and fixed income.

Blackrock’s Aladdin risk management platform, which allows for a scheme’s risks and positions to be seen in one place, will be central to this strategy.

Aladdin, along with a track record of designing long-term strategies for more than 1,000 UK pension funds, helped secure the mandate for Blackrock following a beauty parade.

Trustee chair Steve Carrodus said he and his colleagues wanting to set a long-term strategy for the fund without increasing the governance burden for the board.

“Fiduciary management seemed the right solution for us and Blackrock outlined a compelling proposal to achieve our objectives,” he added. “As well as the investment expertise, being able to have all of the portfolio’s modelling, management and trading within the Aladdin platform, provided real comfort.”

Blackrock’s head of UK strategic clients, Andy Tunningley, said: “Growing deficits, lengthening recovery plans and lower expected investment returns have combined to challenge traditional scheme investment.

“Schemes need to consider tighter risk control with customised hedging arrangements and expand the opportunity set into less liquid asset classes for yield,” he added.

“Furthermore, investors need to ensure they are able to make timely responses to market events. T-Mobile International saw that an external specialist fiduciary manager could help with all these areas and we’re excited to be getting underway.”

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