The Greater Gwent Pension Fund has announced a three-year strategy to “level-up” its investment approach within the UK, targeting an estimated 6% allocation to infrastructure and real estate over its time span.
According to the £4bn pension fund, the new investment strategy is in line with the UK government’s ambition for Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds to allocate of up to 5% to projects which support local areas in the UK.
As part of the strategy, the Greater Gwent Pension Fund is targeting investment of up to 2% (£80m) of its total portfolio per annum over the next three years to infrastructure and real estate.
This allocation will help Greater Gwent reach its long-term asset allocation of 12% to to infrastructure and 8% to real estate, the fund stated.
Nathan Yeowell, Greater Gwent Pension Fund’s chair, said: “This policy will support greater growth in the UK economy and, where possible, we will look to make these investments into Welsh projects. At a time of slow economic growth, we want to invest in medium-to-long term economic, environmental, and social priorities.”
Alongside the new investment strategy, the pension fund has also agreed a new impact policy, which seeks to invest in UK based carbon net zero and other projects promoting long-term social and economic benefits.
The Greater Gwent Pension Fund has already made investment commitments of approximately £150m to impact focused projects, with a £50m allocation to the Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund.
It stated that the majority of investments made under the three-year strategy and impact policy will be done within its pooling vehicle Wales Pension Partnership, but Greater Gwent is “open” to making fund-specific investment in top of this.
“We have already made several significant fund commitments including innovative Renewable Energy projects in Newport and Blaenau Gwent, with others across North Wales in the pipeline.
“The investment at the Uskmouth site, in particular, will contribute to national energy security goals and carbon reduction, while creating skilled local jobs and growth in the local economy,” Yeowell added.
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