Noticeboard NOTICEBOARD


Local government pension pool ACCESS has launched four sub-funds with £3.2bn of its partner funds’ assets. The new structures are a UK Select Fund managed by BlackRock, an Alpha Opportu- nities Fund managed by M&G, a Sterling Investment Grade Credit Fund managed by Fidelity and a Global Equity Fund man- aged by Macquarie.


The new sub-funds bring the total assets pooled by ACCESS to £33.1bn. Meanwhile,


another pension pool has


added a listed alternatives strategy to its offering. Border to Coast’s new £1.4bn fund will invest in assets that tap into long- term structural themes, such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure, healthcare that supports an aging population, property, alternative credit and even private equity.


Investors backing the fund are the local authority pension schemes of East Riding, Durham, North Yorkshire, South York- shire and Surrey. The Listed Alternatives Fund aims to beat the MSCI All Country World Index over five years. Brunel Pension Partnership has appointed Jupiter and Mirova to help manage its sus- tainable equities portfolio. They join Nordea, RBC Global Asset Man-


PEOPLE MOVES


The UK’s largest pension scheme by assets has welcomed a new director to its trustee board. Alain Kerneis joined the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) in Janu- ary, replacing Ian Maybury. He also takes a


agement and Ownership Capital in manag- ing the £2.5bn strategy, which has grown from £1.2bn in the almost two years since it launched. This is why additional manage- ment is needed. The fund invests in listed equities which provide a benefit to society. Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has formed a partnership with the London Bor- ough of Newham to build 161 new houses, half of which will be affordable. The insurer is investing £83m in the pro- ject, which will regenerate brownfield land near London City Airport.


The deal takes PIC’s investment in urban regeneration to £600m in 18 months. Meanwhile, the trustee of a pension scheme sponsored by a consumer goods company has secured the benefits of 1,700 of its members.


Newell Rubbermaid UK Pension Scheme has agreed a £225m buy-in with Legal & General, its second such deal with the insurer as it continues its de-risking journey. The Royal Mencap Society has completed the first de-risking deal for its pension scheme, securing the benefits of more than 700 members in the process. The £61m bulk annuity transaction was agreed with Canada Life. Elsewhere, the trustee of a pension scheme for the employees of biomechanical and food company CSM has agreed a full-


seat on the scheme’s investment committee. Kerneis has been managing portfolios for pension schemes for two decades. This has included time at BlackRock, where he was co-head of investment for the client portfolio team making him responsible


8 | portfolio institutional | April 2022 | issue 112


for £75bn of assets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before that he spent 14 years in Goldman Sachs’ asset manage- ment and investment research teams. Until last year, Kerneis was also an adviser to the in-house investment team of the National Grid UK Pension Scheme. Now Pensions has a new head of invest- ment after Emma Matthews joined the workplace pensions provider. She has joined from Cardano, which hap- pens to be Now Pensions’ parent company. She spent two years at the consultancy advising defined benefit and defined con- tribution schemes on their investment


CALENDAR


Forthcoming portfolio institutional roundtables: April


– Sustainable bonds May


– Endgame investing


June – Emerging market debt July


– Responsible investing September


– Defined contribution


October – 2023 outlook


Conferences: May


– Diversity Hub webinar July


– ESG conference scheme buy-in with Just.


The £86m deal has secured all of the bene- fits for members of the CSM Limited (UK) Pension Scheme, 80% of who no longer pay contributions. Just has also guaranteed the benefits of all members of Lakeland Laboratories’ retire- ment scheme following a full buy-in worth £9m. The deal, which covers 30 pension and 24 deferred members, closed in the second half of 2021, but was not announced until March.


strategies. Matthews also spent just over two years working with final salary schemes as a senior associate within the investment practice of Willis Towers Wat- son. She initially joined the firm as an investment analyst.


Before that she spent almost five years in various investment advisory roles at Charles Stanley. Finally, Pi Pension Trustees has strength- ened its expertise through the appoint- ment of Terry Webster.


The actuary by training has spent 25 years working in the pensions industry, with the last five as an independent trustee.


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