On the go: Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has appointed four specialist managers for its multi-asset credit fund, which will have assets worth £2.7bn.
The Local Government Pension Scheme pool announced on Wednesday that Wellington Management will be managing a global high-yield mandate, Barings will oversee a global syndicated loans portfolio, PGIM Fixed Income a securitised credit mandate, and Ashmore will manage an emerging market debt investment.
Pending approval from the Financial Conduct Authority, the fund is expected to launch in the first half of 2021.
More than 110 managers applied to the selection exercise undertaken by the pool — with support from Mercer — being assessed for technical quality, value for money and complementarity of fit across the portfolio.
“Significant emphasis was placed on the quality of the investment approach, as well as the extent to which responsible investment factors were embedded in the investment process,” Border to Coast stated.
The four managers will sit alongside Pimco’s core multi-asset credit mandate, which was announced in January, and an internally managed emerging market debt sleeve to form the multi-asset credit fund, it added.
Daniel Booth, chief investment officer at Border to Coast, noted that the new fund will provide the pool’s partner pension schemes with access to “the full spectrum of credit assets via high-quality and cost-effective active management”.
He said: “The selected managers are expected to make a strong contribution to our purpose by making a positive difference to investment outcomes for the LGPS. They represent excellent value for our partner funds relative to similar investment options in the market.”
Border to Coast is a collaboration of the LGPS funds for Bedfordshire, Cumbria, Durham, East Riding, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Surrey, Teesside, Tyne and Wear, and Warwickshire.
