Multi-manager advisory

Close offers a manager of managers’ service.  Our clients entrust us with the crucial responsibility for selecting, monitoring and replacing the investment management organisations used in our multi-manager programme.  Our services cater for pension schemes, occupational defined benefit and defined contribution clients as well as corporations.

Our pension scheme service is known as Close TEAMS, which offers a practical, common sense solution that has been exclusively designed for use by UK pension fund trustees and members. 

The process of selecting, monitoring and replacing fund managers is perhaps the most difficult task a trustee or pension scheme member can face.  It can be a huge and complex exercise requiring knowledge, skill and time, three things investors may often find to be in short supply.  This is why many pension schemes use the TEAMS service as their manager of managers.

Currently, we operate 20 TEAMS funds in a life wrapper structure and all approved pension arrangements can access the funds, including: 

  • Defined Benefit
  • Defined Contribution (“bundled” and “unbundled”)
  • Stakeholder
  • GPPGroup AVC
  • Section 32 for DC wind-ups
  • SSASs

Each TEAMS fund has a specified benchmark and a stated performance objective versus that benchmark.  The TEAMS service covers active and passive options, equities, fixed income and cash giving trustees the ability to pick a fund - or combination of funds - that is most appropriate given the scheme liabilities. 

The actively managed TEAMS funds seek to control risk whilst targeting significant yet realistic levels of out performance. The structure of TEAMS is optimally efficient to meet the specific needs of UK schemes and makes us particularly effective for receiving asset transfers from new clients. We have structured our business to do what is right for our clients in order to achieve long-term out performance.

By using Close TEAMS, pension funds gain access to our specialist in-house research team, who are experts in the areas of manager selection and building manager structures.  By delegating the process of selecting, monitoring and replacing fund managers to us, we believe investors who elect to use active management can – and will – improve the chances of meaningful long-term performance.

None of the TEAMS funds are regulated collective investment schemes for the purposes of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.  Therefore, we are restricted by law in the promotion of and distribution of information regarding these products.  Most of the protections provided by the UK regulatory system and compensation under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme will not be available.

Details of the risks associated with investment in any fund is set out in the relevant documentation, however, you should note that an investment is subject to certain risks, including the loss of capital which may be significant. There can be no assurance that any TEAMS funds will achieve its investment objective and investment results may vary substantially over time.