A new head of UK investments at the consultancy house takes the helm.

The global consultancy Mercer has named Steve Blackie as UK head of investments. He will replace Patrick Race, who held the post for over four years.

Blackie is based in the firm’s Edinburgh office, Mercer said in a statement today. Race, meanwhile, has decided to step back from business leadership to focus on client work and a small number of new service delivery, risk and governance responsibilities.

In the role of UK head of investments, Blackie is charged with overseeing Mercer’s advisory and delegated services, as well as growing innovative offerings for the wealth management and insurance market segments.

“The investments landscape continues to change at a rapid pace. A low-growth investment environment, testing times for [defined contribution] investors and the continued focus on de-risking [defined benefit] pension plans offers both challenges and opportunities for our clients. Mercer has been instrumental in developing market leading solutions helping clients tackle these challenges and create opportunity. I look forward to ensuring we continue to do this in the years ahead,” Blackie said.

He has worked for Mercer since 2009 in various roles. Most recently, he was commercial director for Mercer’s UK investments business. Blackie has also been in client leadership roles covering Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North of England respectively, as well as the leader of the consultancy’s Edinburgh investment team.

Prior to Mercer, he was commercial director for Aon Hewitt’s consultancy business in Scotland. Blackie’s experience also includes a number of years with Edinburgh Fund Managers and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. 

On 19 June, Mercer and CAIS, a US-headquartered investment platform business, boosted their strategic partnership by adding institutional private equity to CAIS’s offering.