Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Wellington Management International have won new mandates as the £225m (€360.5m) AEA Technology Pension Fund is investing in bonds for the first time.

The fund said its decision to invest in bonds was not prompted by market conditions nor by the recent decision of the £2.3bn Boots Pension Scheme to switch its entire portfolio to bonds. Instead, it said it is more a reflection of the maturing of the pension fund.