On the go: The Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has increased its aggregate investments to £34.6bn by announcing the launch of a £3.7bn Multi-Asset Credit Fund.
The launch of the new fund by the pool, which handles the assets of 11 Local Government Pension Scheme funds worth a collective £55bn, will allow the partner funds to access all liquid credit asset classes, Border to Coast stated.
The fund is managed by Pimco alongside four other asset managers: Wellington Management, which handles global high yield; Barings, which is in charge of global leveraged loans; PGIM Fixed Income, which handles securities credit; and Ashmore, which is responsible for emerging market debt, local currency and corporate-focused hard currency.
An additional mandate focusing on hard currency emerging market sovereign debt will be managed by the Border to Coast in-house portfolio managers.
With each manager responsible for a specialised asset class, the funds framework will provide opportunities for a diversified portfolio for each of the 11 LGPS partner funds.
According to Border to Coast, the pooled funds arrangement will allow for a cost-effective approach to higher-yielding fixed income securities, which have been constructed to follow the pool’s current Index-Linked Bond, Investment Grade Credit and Private Credit funds.
Rachel Elwell, chief executive of Border to Coast, said: “We believe MAC is a truly differentiated fixed income offering for our partner funds, harnessing both external specialist managers and the internal expertise we have here at Border to Coast.
“The final amount invested at launch is 37 per cent higher than originally committed, demonstrating the continued support of our partner funds and the value we can collectively create for the LGPS by providing new investment opportunities.”
The 11 LGPS partner funds of the pool are Bedfordshire, Cumbria, Durham, East Riding, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Surrey, South Yorkshire, Teesside, Tyne and Wear, and Warwickshire.
