West Yorkshire Pension Fund – Interview
Euan Miller
Leandros Kalisperas
with our equities, bonds and alternatives teams in making significant allocations across the UK and globally. From there, it is a case of asking if any- thing obvious is missing. And are there things we can improve and add to the mix?
Have you come to any conclusions so far? Kalisperas: No. I have been here six weeks and this pension fund has done well over a number of years without me. So, it is a case of coming in, listening to the team, observing and then seeing what might be required.
Leandros, you have great experience hav- ing served as head of credit for USS. What attracted you to the chief investment role at West Yorkshire?
Kalisperas: West Yorkshire Pension Fund is the jewel in the LGPS crown because it has the full toolkit, from strategy to imple- mentation. We have significant partner- ships through GLIL Infrastructure and the Northern Private Equity Partnership, as well as additional implementation capabilities. If I compare it to USS, it is quite similar in terms of the range of flex- ibility and scope.
What are the major differences between the pension funds of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire? Miller: The size of the committee is slightly smaller here.
There are five authorities in West York- shire – Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kir- klees and Wakefield – where Greater Man-
chester has 10. Having less authorities perhaps allows the non-administering authorities to have a greater role in the governance arrangements.
What attracted you to this role, Euan? Miller: I had been at Greater Manchester for eight-and-a-half years, so felt it was time for the next challenge. It is an invest- ment heavy job at West Yorkshire, so we have two people replacing one. In Leandros, we have someone with a great deal of investment experience, while I’m in a more strategic role. Hopefully, it will work well.
So all the investment issues will be left to Leandros? Miller: Leandros leads the investment
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