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An empirical investigation into the performance of UK pension fund managers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2009

ANDREW CLARE ,
DIRK NITZSCHE  and
KEITH CUTHBERTSON
ANDREW CLARE
Affiliation:
Centre for Asset Management Research, Cass Business School (e-mail: a.clare@city.ac.uk)
DIRK NITZSCHE
Affiliation:
Centre for Asset Management Research, Cass Business School (e-mail: a.clare@city.ac.uk)
KEITH CUTHBERTSON
Affiliation:
Centre for Asset Management Research, Cass Business School (e-mail: a.clare@city.ac.uk)
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Abstract

The UK's defined benefit pensions industry makes widespread use of pooled investment vehicles which are provided by a large number of fund management groups. In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive performance analysis of these funds. Using data on 734 actively managed pooled funds that had a combined value of just over £400bn at the end of 2007, ranging from UK equity to funds specialising in Pacific Basin equities, our results indicate that the performance of these institutional funds is generally better than those reported in the literature for managers of mutual funds. Nevertheless, with increasing numbers of UK fund managers purporting to be able to provide high alpha products to the UK's beleaguered pensions industry our results do not give us great confidence that the solution to the widespread deficits of the UK's pension fund industry lies in the hands of these active fund managers.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 533 - 547
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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