Interview – West Yorkshire Pension Fund
INTERVIEW – EUAN MILLER AND LEANDROS KALISPERAS
“It is an investment heavy job at West Yorkshire, so we have two people replacing one.”
Are two heads better than one? Andrew Holt sat down with the new recruits at the West Yorkshire Pension Fund – managing director Euan Miller and chief investment officer Leandros Kalisperas – to discuss their ambitions for the local government scheme.
What have been your priorities in the four months since you joined the West York- shire Pension Fund, Euan? Euan Miller: Getting my head around the role. Specifically, how it differs from my experience
at Pension Fund.
There is a lot to familiarise myself with on the members administration aspects, in particular, because we offer a shared ad- ministration service to other LGPS funds. And then it has been getting used to how things work operationally, on human re- sources and IT provision, for example, be- cause every council operates differently. I have also been getting to know the West Yorkshire Pension Fund team, while ensuring a smooth transition from my predecessor, Rodney Barton.
12 | portfolio institutional | March 2023 | Issue 121 the Greater Manchester
Importantly, we have the fund valuation going on, which we need to finish by the end of March. This happens every three years and is a natural moment to consider and reset our strategic allocation. So, the timing of Leandros arriving is good in many ways.
Do you see any big strategic allocation changes, Leandros? Leandros Kalisperas: Well, through the actuarial valuation we are triangulating where we are in the funding ratio range, with contribution rates and the expected rate of return on our assets. Overall, we look to be in a reasonably healthy position. It is more of an evolutionary process, than one of significant change. From a strate-
gic asset allocation perspective, it is all about understanding the investment uni- verse and how it is changing. One of the reasons I have been brought in is to see how the strategic asset allocation might evolve. That may not mean a dra- matic shift in risk and return, it may just mean the universe gets filled in a bit more than it has been.
What is the existing portfolio strategy? Kalisperas: We are an open long-horizon scheme. We therefore have a long-risk bias, which has served the pension fund well for years.
The portfolio is broadly 60% equities, 20% fixed income and 20% alternatives and private markets. One of my initial challenges and opportunities is to work
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