The final piece of the LGPS pooling jigsaw looks to have finally fallen into place, with an agreement that Berkshire Pension Fund will join the Local Pensions Partnership.
Administering authority Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead has signed a memorandum of understanding for the fund to join LPP.
It commits both parties to pool their pension assets, and transfer administration, liability management and employer risk services to the pool.
Michael O’Higgins, chair of LPP, said: “This agreement is an important step in our collaboration with the Berkshire Pension Fund.
“We look forward to working closely with Berkshire in helping to bring the same sustainable benefits to the fund and its members as to those of our existing clients.”
The two parties will now work on a business case in time to allow the pooling process to be ready by 1 April 2018.
Berkshire will continue to set its own strategic asset allocation and employer contribution rates.
The announcement ends more than a year of discussions between LPP and Berkshire on pooling.
Last August, Berkshire announced its intention to exclude 10% of its assets from new Local Government Pension pooling arrangements.
A report to the panel fund’s governance panel at that time said: “This would have two purposes, first to enable us to invest, usually locally, where we see local opportunities and second to ensure that we have the motivation to monitor what the pool is doing with our money.”
The panel also announced its intention to retain control of Glassford LLP, a joint venture with Housing Solutions, a Maidenhead-based housing association.
