Following its 12 May Board meeting in Auckland, the Board of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation announced that it had selected Mercer Investment Consulting to provide it with advice on manager selection for its portfolio.

Mercer was also appointed earlier this year to provide advice on the strategic asset allocation for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and has been working with the Board on this issue since that time.

The Board has previously announced that it had selected the Frank Russell Company to provide it with a second opinion on Mercer's recommendations relating to the broad asset allocation of the Fund.

The decision to appoint Mercer Investment Consulting to provide advice on the selection of investment managers to implement the investment strategy, once finalised, follows the submission of proposals from a number of potential providers and an extensive review of their capabilities.

Presently all contributions to the Fund are invested in cash and assets are expected to be $1.9 billion by 30 June 2003. "The Board still anticipates commencing the investment of the assets of the Fund towards the end of the September quarter," said chairman David May.

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