B of I Asset Management loses second major client in a month

Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) has lost another significant account in the wake of the recent departure of a number of its investment managers.

The Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association (PERA) has decided to discontinue its relationship with BIAM, which managed a $495 million (€388 million) international equity account for it.

The association said it had decided to discontinue the relationship for reasons of "performance and the recent departure of several managers from BIAM's investment team".

There was no comment from Bank of Ireland last night.

BIAM was notified by PERA of the decision early last month. The move followed a recommendation to the PERA board by Chicago-based consultants Ennis Knupp, who provide advice to the association's board.

Ennis Knupp is an independent investment advice firm that says it has no affiliations with brokerage, investment management, or investment banking firms.

The fund previously managed by BIAM constitutes approximately 10 per cent of PERA's total international equity portfolio, a spokeswoman said.

She did not know how long BIAM had been working for the association.

PERA manages pension benefits for approximately 355,000 retired and active public employees in Colorado. It has a total fund worth in excess of $30 billion.

The fund previously managed by BIAM has been placed in an index fund managed by Barclays Global Investors. The PERA board is to decide later this month who will take over management of the fund on a more long-term basis, the spokeswoman said.

The decision by PERA follows a similar development last month when one of Canada's largest money managers decided to discontinue using BIAM. RBC Asset Management, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, has $48 billion Canadian dollars (€30.9 billion) in assets under management.

It used BIAM US Ltd as a sub-adviser for its RBC Private EAFE Equity Pool.

The bank has a number of sub-advisers looking after different sections of the equity pool and said it was seeking a replacement for BIAM.

"This decision comes following RBC Asset Management's decision to discontinue its relationship with BIAM US Ltd following the recent departure of four senior managers from its investment management team."

In September, an Australian asset management firm poached four BIAM executives as part of a plan to establish a new global equities business.

Sydney-based Perpetual Trustees Australia is to establish a business in Dublin that will manage €1.3 billion in assets. The business is to be run by Mr John Nolan and Mr Des Sullivan, both of whom were formerly deputy chief investment officers with BIAM.

They are to work with two other former BIAM executives, Mr John Forde and Mr Richard Kelly.