The $300 million NSW Electrical Superannuation Scheme (NESS) has ended its long-running partnership with Mercer Investment Consulting (Mercer IC), appointing a different provider and opting for an implemented service.

NESS decided last Friday to appoint JANA Investment Advisors to provide its implemented consulting service, ending a relationship with Mercer dating back to 1997, Phil Hirshbein, fund secretary of NESS, said.

Hirshbein said the fund chose an implemented asset consulting model in an attempt to better manage its investments.

“We’re a small fund, and we considered that it would be more efficient to manage all investments under a single process."

NESS’ direct contact at JANA would be Gary Wilson, who joined the consultancy in October 2008, he said.

It was too soon to judge which asset classes or investment mandates would first be reviewed by JANA, Hirshbein said, adding that any near-term changes were unlikely because significant losses would be realised by redeeming mandates.

The appointment followed a tender run by Warren Chant, principal of superannuation fund ratings house Chant West. NESS decided to review the asset consulting market because it had not done so since Mercer IC first began providing it with a traditional consulting service.