The trustees of the Kier Group UK pension schemes have appointed Schroders Solutions as the outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) across the schemes' £1.2bn in assets.

The mandate covers five pension schemes, with Schroders Solutions to take responsibility for assisting the trustees in applying a common investment strategy framework and streamlining the operational running of the schemes.

Schroders Solutions, which currently manages in excess of £100bn in OCIO partnerships, was appointed following an open and competitive tender process.

Commenting on the deal, Schroders Solutions head of OCIO and client specialist solutions, Neil Walton, stated: “This appointment confirms Schroders Solutions’ position as a trusted partner to defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.

"The move to OCIO models continues to accelerate and a wide variety of clients, including Kier, are seeing the benefits. With institutional investors facing higher demands we are able to provide greater resource, improved value and robustness.

"We are grateful for the trust placed in us and look forward to working closely with the trustees to help them meet their investment objectives.”

Vidett chair of the trustee board, Mark Cliff, added: “Following a competitive selection process, we are pleased to have appointed Schroders Solutions to deliver maximum value across these five pension schemes under an OCIO model. We look forward to getting started.”

The appointment is also reflective of a broader trend, as IC Select director, Anne-Marie Gillon, noted that there has been a clear increase in fiduciary management and OCIO models to help trustees navigate a more complex investment and regulatory environment.

"We were glad to have helped the trustees find the right partner for them through our independent selection and appointment process," she continued.

"With Schroders Solutions in place to take on investment responsibilities, the trustees have added security and capacity to focus on more strategic priorities.”

This is the latest in a number of recent OCIO appointments, including the appointment of Goldman Sachs Asset Management to the BAE Systems' pension schemes earlier this month.

A number of key OCIO appointments were also made earlier this year, including the appointment of Cardano by the Northumbrian Water Pension Scheme, while the Royal Mail Pension Plan awarded its £8.8bn OCIO mandate to BlackRock earlier this year.

This is in addition to the previous appointment of Schroders Solutions to the Centrica pension schemes in 2022.

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