The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation Board has confirmed the appointment of Phillips Fox as its legal advisor and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as its tax advisor. The Board also confirmed that the search for an advisor to assist with the selection of investment managers and custodian continues.

As part of a two day meeting, the Board received background input from Mercer Investment Consulting on long-term asset allocation and portfolio construction issues. Dr Jack Gray, a respected investment expert, assisted the Board with thoughts on wider considerations and the alternative approaches that might be considered.

"The meeting allowed the Board to consider collectively the investment strategy with the input of experts," said Guardians' chairman, David May.

The next step will be for Mercer to model alternatives to enable the Board to determine the strategic asset allocation and portfolio construction of the Fund.

The Fund is expected to hold approximately $1.9 billion at 30 June 2003. The Board expects to begin investing the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in the third quarter of the year.

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