State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation, has been appointed by Flintshire County Council to run a GBP20m mandate on behalf of the Clwyd Pension Fund.

State Street Global Advisors currently manages more than GBP5bn assets on behalf of 15 local authorities.

The new assets will be invested in the Ssaris Multi-Manager Absolute Return Strategy, an absolute return fund of hedge funds with a target return of three per cent to six per cent over US treasury bills, per market cycle. The strategy combines a convergent approach, one based on fundamental valuation of companies, with a divergent approach, which focuses on trends and momentum factors that reflect changing market themes and investor sentiment.

“We are extremely pleased to have won this new mandate from Flintshire County Council to manage a portion of the Clwyd Pension Fund,” says Rob Covino (pictured), senior vice president of product development at Ssaris Advisors. “The Ssaris Multi-Manager Absolute Return Strategy is managed with high transparency and prudent risk management in a multi-strategy, multi-manager hedge fund portfolio. By using a combination of the convergent and divergent approaches, it seeks to capture returns and manage risk during challenging times and achieve a high degree of diversification.”

“We are confident that Ssaris will meet our investment objectives with its Multi-Manager Absolute Return Strategy,” adds Philip Latham, Clwyd pension fund manager from Flintshire County Council.

Ssaris Advisors, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors, is the hedge fund and fund of funds investment platform for State Street’s institutional clientele. It provides discretionary investment management services using a variety of strategies to private pooled investment vehicles and separately managed accounts.