People’s Pension appoints Robeco to manage its growing £3.6bn emerging markets equities portfolio.
The move shifts the portfolio from a passive approach to an active, quantitative strategy, aligning it more closely with the Scheme’s Responsible Investment policy.
This change responds to structural challenges in emerging markets and allows People’s Pension, which manages over £38 billion in assets, to implement a long-term risk-controlled investment approach.
Robeco was selected following a nine-month research and due diligence process led by the Equity team at People’s Partnership, which provides People’s Pension to seven million savers, around a fifth of the UK workforce.
The selection process evaluated shortlisted managers across seven key areas, including performance, portfolio construction, teams and resources, risk management, firmwide considerations, responsible investment and partnership capabilities.
According to People’s Pension, Robeco stood out for its commitment to emerging markets and quantitative strategies, its forward-looking risk-aware portfolio construction, collaborative approach and industry-leading responsible investment integration.
Robeco’s appointment follows the launch of partnerships with Amundi and Invesco, which now manage People’s Pension’s developed markets equities and fixed income portfolios, respectively.
The People’s Pension Trustee Board chair Mark Condron says: “Today’s announcement is fantastic news for our seven million members as Robeco is committed to enabling us to deliver the very best returns. Forming strong partnerships – such as the one we are forging with Robeco – is central to our strategy. This development is consistent with our aim to deliver the very best returns to members with a best-in-class RI approach.”
People’s Partnership chief investment officer Dan Mikulskis says: “The appointment of Robeco by the Trustee is the culmination of an exhaustive search for a partner that aligns to our core investment beliefs. Their cutting-edge approach will enable us to maximise the very best value from emerging markets. Our belief is that a selective active investment approach will lead to better returns for members. This is the latest step towards us achieving our goal of becoming a world class asset owner.”
Weili Zhou, Head of Quant Investing & Research, Deputy CIO says: “We are proud to have earned the trust of People’s Pension to manage their emerging markets equity portfolioand to have become one of their strategic partners. Their bespoke solution leverages our market-leading quantitative investment expertise, combined with our proprietary sustainable investment frameworks and innovations. We look forward to working closely with People’s Pension – a valued strategic partner – to deliver the best outcomes for their UK members.”
