Unhappy with the performance of their pension scheme, the Trustees of this large university, decided to research a Manager of Managers approach. The scheme had previously split their portfolio between two managers but were dissatisfied with the results. As the Finance Director explains, “The concentration on one or two houses was a real exposure; they didn’t have the research on a day-to-day basis, so we thought that moving to a Manager of Managers structure would be better.”

Following extensive research of the prominent players in the market, the Trustees chose SEI because of their highly focused business, “The reason that SEI came out top was that their entire focus was on the Manager of Manager process undiluted by consultancy.” They were also particularly impressed with SEI’s focus on researching managers, “It was down to the details of the manager research for each client on a deal by deal basis which we thought was very thorough and why we thought SEI was better.”

Another key feature that differentiated SEI from their competitors was the SEI people, “Inevitably you have to get down to personalities as well. We thought SEI presented a really good mix of individuals- very professional and that generated a lot of confidence.” Further reassurance comes from SEI’s position as a global player, “You know there are all these people and ideas that we might not want to get into at the moment but it’s nice to know there are a lot of opportunities for us when we want to take advantage of them.”

The pension scheme has been happy with the service they have received, especially praising the relationship mangers who have kept them constantly informed of developments inside SEI. “I already do recommend SEI and I certainly recommend the Manager of Managers approach. SEI has a good track record so I’ve got no problem in recommending them."