On the go: The Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has added fixed income capability to its offering, seeding the fund with £2.5bn of capital from partner funds.
East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Tyne & Wear, South Yorkshire and Warwickshire were the first Local Government Pension Scheme partner funds to allocate to the new pool, which is projected to save some £500m in investment management fees when all 12 Border to Coast participants subscribe.
The fund is diversified across three asset managers, with Insight Investment, M&G Investments, and Royal London Asset Management each performing different roles within the portfolio.
Setting up pooled funds involves complex transfers of assets from schemes to new managers, with unprecedented volatility in financial markets adding a new level of threat.
According to Border to Coast, the transition was "completed efficiently" over four weeks, with Blackrock managing the transition and Inalytics supporting the pool.
Daniel Booth, Border to Coast's chief investment officer, said: “The launch of our first fixed income fund, Sterling Investment Grade Credit, provides our Partner Funds with a key diversification option within the Border to Coast fund range. The importance of this product is highlighted by the sizeable initial commitments received.”
Ian Bainbridge, Head of pensions at the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund and chair of the Border to Coast Officers Group, said: “This is an important building block for our strategic allocation and was a key priority for us as part of the derisking of our investment strategy following our triennial valuation.”
