FuturePlus, service provider to the EISS and LGS Super funds,  has appointed a former investment operations manager from Intech to field tenders from transition managers as it determines an arrangement for future mandate transitions.

Elliot Graham is assessing the capabilities of transition managers as FuturePlus aims to decide on whether to appoint a project manager, panel of brokers or a single provider such as State Street Global Markets (SSgM) to perform implement future mandate changes.

“They all say that they’re the best, but I’m confused. I want to know which arrangement is the best,” Michael Block, general manager of investments at FuturePlus, said.

“There are people who use SSgM, or the broker model – I don’t know which is the best one and why.”

In the past, FuturePlus appointed brokers – primarily Citi, but also UBS and Goldman Sachs – but is now “down to a long list” of providers as it determines who to use in the future.

“The main thing is that the assets are transitioned safely and with the lowest implementation leakage.”

Transitions between asset classes, which, for example, required bonds to be redeemed and the resultant capital invested in equities, required transition managers with expertise across asset classes, Block said.

Graham, formerly investment operations project manager at Intech, joined FuturePlus in recent months on a contract as transitions and compliance manager.