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Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is calling for a merger of management services for the province’s public-sector pensions.

Pallister says he’s not suggesting the funds themselves merge — only that they be managed as a group.

He says a much larger pool of funds would be subject to lower management fees, and that could save roughly $200 million a year on a combined pool of $40 billion.

Pallister says those savings could boost the pension funds’ long-term sustainability or be reinvested to increase returns.

Government officials are to meet with people who oversee the various public-sector pension funds in the coming weeks to discuss the issue.