Andre Konstantinow is the new boss or head of manager selection of Barclays UK Pension Fund and as per the renowned global financial services firm, the newly-created role reflected the steadfastness of the fund\'s trustees to ensuring high levels of investment performance and scheme governance.

It has come to the knowledge that Konstantinow, in the past worked, at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and there  he was a senior investment manager responsible fro European and emerging markets hedge fund managers, strategies and research. He did commence his alternative investments career in 2000 as a research analyst for Scheeweis Partners, now Alternative Investment Analytics, where he was involved in the design of the Down Jones Hedge Fund indices.

He, afterward, joined the fund of hedge funds business run by Coronation Fund Managers, where he became co-portfolio manager.

Speaking on this, Tony Broccardo, Chief Investment Officer of Barclays Pension Fund said, "Manager selection and asset allocation are two sides of the same coin and Andre\'s addition to our integrated in-house team will enable us to enhance the speed and flexibility of our investment decision-making, and to react more rapidly to market conditions."

Barclays PLC happens to be a major global financial services firm operating in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is basically a holding company that is listed on the London, New York stock exchanges, and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange until 2008. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It operates through its subsidiary Barclays Bank plc.

The company is ranked as the 25th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 (2008 list) and the fourth largest financial services provider in the world according to Tier 1 capital ($32.5 billion). It is the second largest bank in the United Kingdom based on asset size, although its share price, having fallen by 40% in the past year as of 10 May 2009, is considerably lower as a result of a fall in investor confidence.