Noticeboard PEOPLE MOVES


Natwest Group Pension Fund has appointed Rob- ert Chestnutt as its next chief executive following Robert Waugh’s decision


to retire, while Nic Barnes is to replace Waugh as chief investment officer. Chestnutt will step up from head of fund- ing and risk at RBS Investment Executive, the trustee’s support function, to take the role when Waugh (pictured) steps down at the end of March after 13 years at the scheme. He will remain an adviser until the end of June. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has welcomed Joe McDonnell as its new chief investment officer. He replaces John Harrison, who has held the role on an interim basis since 2021 and remains an adviser to the pool. McDonnell’s previous position was a managing director at asset manager Neuberger Berman, where among his responsibilities he oversaw multi-asset mandates.


NOTICEBOARD


Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI) has bought a minority sharehold- ing in a digital platform. The £23.6bn lo- cal government scheme pool has, in part- nership with Macquarie Asset Management, bought Virtus Data Centres.


The financial terms of the deal and the size of LPPI’s interest in the company have not been disclosed. Virtus has 11 data centres in Greater Lon- don with a combined capacity of more than 100 megawatts, providing cloud ser- vices to residents and businesses. LPPI’s chief investment officer, Richard Tomlinson, described the company as a global player in a growing industry, while its commitment to being powered by re- newable energy also appealed.


10 | portfolio institutional | February 2023 | Issue 120


He also spent a decade at Morgan Stanley, where he worked with local government schemes, and managed pension assets at Shell and IBM. McDonnell is also an associate trustee and investment commit- tee member of Great Ormond Street Hos- pital’s charity.


Jim Islam is the new chair of People’s Partnership, the not-for-profit once known as B&CE that manages more than


£18bn for the 6 million members of The People’s Pension. Islam (pictured) has sat on the board since 2018 and stepped up in January when Babloo Ramamurthy ended almost a dec- ade of service at the organisation. The Pensions Regulator is looking for a new director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice after David Fairs decided that he will move on in March after almost five years. Finally, Dean Bowden took over from Mike O’Donnell as chief executive of London CIV in December. Bowden has more than 25 years of invest- ment experience. Before joining the pool,


Defined benefit liabilities insurer Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has lent £40m to a housing association. Housing Solu- tions will use the debt, which is part of a wider £100m fundraising, to help meet its target of building 350 homes in the South- east of England in the next three years. Of the new homes, 70% will be affordable with the rest reserved for shared owner- ship. The properties will add to the 7,500 homes already managed by the association.


The terms of the debt have not been dis- closed, but the loan matures in 2060. Elsewhere, PIC has completed a £400m partial buy-in of the pension scheme sponsored by Amey, an infrastructure services and engineering company. The deal secured the benefits of almost 5,500 members of the Amey OS Pension Scheme.


CALENDAR


Topics for confirmed upcoming portfolio institutional roundtables:


March – Emerging markets April


– Defined contribution May


– Stewardship June


– Biodiversity July


– DC multi asset July


– Private markets


September – Alternatives October


– Fixed income November


– Sustainable strategies


he held several senior roles at Quilter, including group head of responsible investment.


Elsewhere, the trustees of a pension fund sponsored by chemical company Venator have removed the longevity risk linked to around 2,700 retirees and deferred mem- bers following a buy-in. The £430m deal concerning the Tioxide Pension Fund was agreed with Legal & General. The scheme is a client of the insurer, which has managed a proportion of the scheme’s assets for almost 30 years. Finally, the Merseyside Pension Fund is now receiving investment advice from Redington, following the consultant’s appointment as a strategic adviser to the logical authority scheme.


Under the terms of the agreement, the consultant


will support the £10m


scheme’s investment team for at least three years, particularly concerning responsible investing.


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