Local Government Pension Scheme pools continue to attract heavyweight names, with the announcement of a number of executives.
This week, it was announced that the pool has formally created BPP Ltd, a £27.5bn investment company to manage joint investments.
It has recruited two senior staff from the Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF) to join its executive board – Dawn Turner and Mark Mansley.
Independent chair of the pool, Denise Le Gal, said: “The formation of the company and the recruitment of the key personnel marks the start of the final stage in the BPP funds journey to pooling assets.”
Turner joins as chief executive officer, having served as chief pensions officer at the EAPF for the past four years. She has been working as interim managing director at the pool since April.
She is joined by Mark Mansley, who swaps his role as EAPF chief investment officer for an equivalent role at BPP.
The pool has also announced that Laura Chappell has become chief compliance and risk officer. She moves from wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, where she had worked as head of risk since 2015.
In addition, Joe Webster has been appointed as the chief operations officer at the pool. Webster was formerly global finance director of equity trading at Deutsche Bank in London.
BPP is one of eight national pooled funds, and will oversee the investment of the pension assets for the Avon, Buckinghamshire. Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Environment Agency, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, and Wiltshire Funds.
Following the formation of the company, it has announced its intention to sign a lease on offices located near to Bristol’s Temple Meads station.
Meanwhile, West Yorkshire Pension fund is among three investors which have bought a £105m prime office block in Manchester. The new building at 101 Embankment was bought in partnership with M&G Real Esstate and an anonymous Asian investor.
Meanwhile, the £40bn LGPS Central pool has announced the appointment of two non-executive directors.
John Nestor and Eithne McManus will join Joanne Segars and Andrew Warwick-Thompson, chair and chief executive respectively on the board of the new company.
Nestor is chairman of the Prudential Corporate Pension Trustee Limited and chairman of the staff pension scheme for the Marylebone Cricket Club.
McManus currently sits on the board of Countrywide Assured and UIA (Insurance) and is a member of both the risk, nominations and remuneration committees at UIA Insurance.
McManus will chair the audit, risk and compliance committee and Nestor will chair the remuneration committee at Central.
