(pictured: Patrick Farrell) 

Pat Farrell, the new CIO at Suncorp, in charge of about $20 billion in multi-manager funds, has put the fixed income and cash mandates currently managed by Nikko Asset Management up for review.

Farrell joined Suncorp in late July, following the retirement of Nick Basile. He had previously been the CIO of BT Financial Group, a role which is now filled by Martyn Wild, former BT Investment Management head of diversified strategies.

The Suncorp-Nikko relationship is an old one. When Nikko purchased the former Tyndall Investments from Suncorp in 2010, Suncorp handed the Japanese-owned funds management group an $18 billion multi-asset class mandate as part of the deal.

This was subsequently whittled down by Basile, who sought to diversify the insurance and investment pool’s risk through additional managers and new investment streams. He also maintained downward pressure on fees across the asset classes.

Suncorp offers its retail investment clients many options, including blended balanced funds that include cash and fixed interest, alongside its discrete cash and fixed interest funds. It is not known how much funds under management are at stake in the now-contested mandates.