ACCESS
Link wins pooling contract
ACCESS has appointed Link Fund Solutions Ltd to establish and operate its authorised contractual scheme (ACS).
The appointment is the culmination of a procurement process co-ordinated by Kent County Council.
Link will be responsible for the creation of investment sub-funds, and the appointment of investment managers to those sub-funds.
The contract runs for five years with an option to extend for a further two years, and is the second LGPS pooling contract the Australian-owned firm has won, having also been appointed by the Wales pool to set up its ACS.
Cllr Andrew Reid, chairman of the ACCESS joint committee said: “The operator is fundamental to the approach ACCESS has adopted, and I am delighted that with the completion of this essential procurement we now have the key cornerstone in place. “We look forward to working with our new partners in Link Fund Solutions Ltd in building on our initial success and meeting the future requirements of the ACCESS funds”.
Border to Coast
New interim CIO
Border to Coast has announced a raft of appointments including John Harrison as interim chief investment officer.
Harrison, a frequent commentator on LGPS issues for Room151, joins the pool after recently acting as independent adviser to Surrey Pension Fund, and will report to chief executive Rachel Elwell.
His role will involve setting up the pool’s investment function and overseeing the transition of assets into Border to Coast from the 12 partner LGPS funds.
Elwell said: “Setting up Border to Coast’s investments requires a very special mix of expertise in both investment management and local authority pensions and I am absolutely delighted that John has agreed to step away from his advisory work for a period to help us with this.”
Administrator and depositary
Northern Trust has been revealed as the new administrator and depositary for the Border to Coast pool.
Work is now underway on a model for pooling the the assets of the twelves partner funds of Board to Coast.
Fiona Miller, chief operating officer of Border to Coast, said: “Through their long-term partnership with the LGPS and extensive expertise in ACS structures, Northern Trust’s understanding of our needs and the culture we want to build make them a natural partner for Border to Coast.”
Brunel
FCA approval
LGPS pool Brunel Pension Partnership has received its authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority to operate as a financial services firm.
Brunel will be a full scope MiFID investment firm, which means Brunel will be able to provide advisory and discretionary investment management services to its ten clients.
Dawn Turner, chief executive officer of Brunel, said: “This is an important milestone for us and means we are on schedule to deliver the benefits of LGPS investment pooling for our clients.”
Central
Three funds launch
LGPS Central has launched three new pooled funds as it began operations.
The pool is one of eight which began to transfer assets on 1 April as part of the pooling process — aimed at reducing investment fees.
LGPS Central started life with a global equity passive fund, a UK equity passive fund, and a global dividend growth factor equity fund.
In addition, the pool will be responsible for eight advisory and discretionary mandates on behalf of its partner funds.
Together, these new funds and mandates mean that LGPS Central is already responsible for £12bn of assets transferred from member funds.
WMPF buys Leeds office block
West Midlands Pension Fund has bought an office block in Leeds for £26m.
The fund has bought the fully-occupied 5,700m² City Point building, and will receive around £1.6m in rental income. The building was sold by UK real estate investment trust RDI.
Northern Pool
New chair
Ian Greenwood, deputy chair of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund, has been appointed to chair the Northern Pool LGPS fund.
Greenwood replaced Keiran Quinn who passed away unexpectedly before Christmas.
Brenda Warrington, chair of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, said: “Ian’s appointment is another important step in our pooling journey. I’m confident he will continue Kieran’s good work, using investment to drive growth and innovating with our stakeholders to ensure sustainable and affordable pensions for workers who deliver vital public services in the interests of taxpayers.”
London CIV
London LGPS administering authorities have voiced concerns over investment responsibilities under reform plans proposed by the London CIV.
The capital’s LGPS pool is currently consulting on proposals to shake-up its governance and investment regime following a critical review released last year.
In response to the review, the LCIV has put forward a simplified model, giving funds a choice of three blended investment mandates in addition to a separate passive option.
A report to councillors drafted by Mark Maidment, London Borough of Wandsworth’s deputy chief executive and director of resources, said: “The concern is that asset allocation is the major contributor to fund performance and by forcing a blended option on individual funds this may negate any efficiency saving, create a de facto passive mandate and hinder their specific requirements.
“The blended option as portrayed will mean the CIV will allocate investments as it sees fit and not in accordance with individual funds’ strategic and/or specific requirements.”
A statement from London CIV said it was “taking stock of how best to deliver the original vision for the CIV”.
“We are having discussions with our stakeholders about how we respond to the governance review and no decisions have been taken as yet.
“As we are engaging with our stakeholders and listening to their views, we do not want to prematurely anticipate the variety of possible responses that could result,” said a spokesman.
Five London LGPS funds go it alone
A group of five London LGPS funds are set to create their own pooled private debt fund, outside of the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV).
The group includes LGPS funds for Ealing, Havering, Lambeth, Wandsworth and Merton.
The investment mandate is expected to be £250m, although Bfinance said that could rise if more London councils get involved.
Bridget Uku, group manager of treasury and investments at the London Borough of Ealing Pension Fund, said: “The key drivers for investing in private debt is to diversify the fund’s source of returns and increase the fund’s exposure to assets that derive the majority of their returns from income, as opposed to capital growth.”
A London CIV spokesperson said it had worked with London boroughs to select Ares as a private debt manager for the London CIV.
It said a seminar was also planned for May for the London boroughs to meet the manager. “We are now open to commitments from London boroughs who wish to invest in private debt, ” the spokesman said.
LPP
Fixed income fund
Local Pensions Partnership has launched its first fixed income fund.
The £320m fund is aimed at delivering long-term risk-adjusted returns on global fixed income investments, with a strong focus on capital preservation.
LPP said that investments will focus on higher credit quality, highly-liquid investments across a range of instrument types and maturities.
Susan Martin, LPP chief executive, said: “LPP’s inaugural fixed income fund provides a significant new investment vehicle for our clients.
“It is an important part of our continuing efforts to expand our range of investment strategies to support clients’ strategic asset allocation implementation.”
The fund will be managed by LPP’s in-house team, serving its two full-service clients: the Lancashire County Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund Authority.
Wales
Calls for fossil fuel divestment
Monmouthshire County Council has called for its pension fund to divest £245m in fossil fuel investments.
Councillors voted unanimously to make the request to the Greater Gwent Fund, which also handles pensions for Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Newport councils.
Figures from FOE Cymru show about £1bn is invested in fossil fuels by Welsh council pension funds — 6.68% of the total pot.
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