£1.7bn Honda scheme hires Mercer as fiduciary manager

The Honda trustee board selected Mercer following a review of their own governance approach.

Mercer will provide the scheme with operational and implementation support to help the Honda scheme trustee focus on their strategic funding objectives.

Honda Group UK Pension Scheme investment sub-committee chair Mike Godfrey said: "We were looking for a partner to help us achieve our investment objectives for the scheme. The Mercer team gave us the confidence that they have the skills and expertise to deliver a highly bespoke solution, specific to our requirements.

"Key to their appointment was understanding of our needs and the quality of the bespoke solution to achieve our objectives, including the continued integration of ESG and climate change considerations into our investment strategy."

The appointment further grows Mercer's fiduciary business which the firm said is on track to fund around £7bn in UK fiduciary management assets in 2021. The firm's total UK assets under management stood at £59bn as of 30 September 2021.

Mercer partner and head of UK investments Dan Melley said: "We are delighted to have been selected as fiduciary manager by Honda trustee and look forward to partnering with them as their requirements evolve."

He added: "We expect the trend towards larger schemes using fiduciary management solutions to continue. In particular, market uncertainty, governance burdens and increased focus on ESG integration seem to be driving renewed consideration of fiduciary management solutions. Moving forward, we see a great opportunity to support trustees of defined benefit schemes in reviewing their governance structures as they plan their end game solutions."