Morley Fund Management ("Morley") has been appointed to manage a £1bn bond portfolio for Marconi plc on behalf of their UK Pension Plan. The portfolio will be managed by Kevin Lorkins, Head of Gilts, with assistance in terms of credit exposure from Paul Mingay, Head of Credit and his team. The Account Director for this mandate will be Ian Williams, Head of UK Institutional Sales.
Morley Fund Management ("Morley") has been appointed to manage a Ł1bn bond portfolio for Marconi plc on behalf of their UK Pension Plan. The portfolio will be managed by Kevin Lorkins, Head of Gilts, with assistance in terms of credit exposure from Paul Mingay, Head of Credit and his team. The Account Director for this mandate will be Ian Williams, Head of UK Institutional Sales.
The Plan's bond exposure was previously managed in-house and Morley was appointed with immediate effect following a competitive selection exercise. The mandate is currently benchmarked, 50% gilts and 50% UK index-linked gilts, but this is likely to be reviewed by the Trustees and their advisers, Watson Wyatt, in conjunction with Morley.
Commenting on their appointment to the fund, Ian Williams said:
"We are honoured to be working for such a prestigious and dynamic UK company. We look forward to a long and successful working relationship based on our proven track record in managing funds of similar size and profile and the huge level of practical experience in this team"
Kevin Lorkins added:
" I will draw on our significant credit management resources in addition to my own gilt background and relish this opportunity to work with an experienced and informed group of Trustees."
Commenting on the appointment of Morley, Kevin O'Boyle Group Benefits Director at Marconi said:
"Our internal manager had done an excellent job with this portfolio but we now look forward to working with Morley's successful and well-resourced team. I am confident we can make good use of their gilt and credit expertise to the benefit of our plan members".
The Trustees were advised in this selection exercise by Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
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For further information please contact:
| Vicki Rhind/Mark Miller | 020 7809 6128 |
| Kevin Lorkins | 020 7809 6166 |
| Ian Williams | 020 7809 6707 |
| Penrose Financial | |
| Gay Collins/Caroline Deutsch gayc@penrose.co.uk carolined@penrose.co.uk | 020 7786 4888 |
Notes to Editors
The fixed income team at Morley has in excess of Ł36bn (now Ł37bn) under management and employs a total of 31 investment professionals. (Source: MFM as at 31.12.00)
Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management is an independently managed, London based, asset management business with Ł106 billion under management. It has investment professionals based in Boston, Tokyo, Singapore and an associate office in Dublin.
Morley is a wholly owned subsidiary of CGNU plc and manages institutional funds under the Morley brand. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed under the Norwich Union brand.
CGU plc and Norwich Union plc merged on 30 May 2000 to create CGNU plc, the UK's largest insurance group and one of the top-five insurers in Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world's sixth largest insurer based on gross worldwide premiums.
Marconi plc
Marconi plc is a global communications and IT company with around 55,000 employees world-wide. Marconi has research and development facilities in 19 countries, manufacturing operations in 16 countries, and serves customers in over 100 countries. It supplies advanced communications solutions for Networks, Wireless and Enterprise customers, globally. Marconi plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq under the symbol MONI.
Additional information about Marconi can be found at www.marconi.com.
Issued by Morley Fund Management.
Morley Fund Management is a business name of Morley Fund Management Limited (incorporated in England with Registered No. 1151805 and Registered Office 1 Poultry London EC2R 8EJ) and Norwich Union Investment Management Limited (incorporated in England with Registered No. 2152949 and Registered Office 8 Surrey Street Norwich NR1 3NG) both regulated by IMRO and members of the CGNU Group