A night of success at the 2024 LAPF Investments Awards

On a glamorous and glittering night in London, 300 attendees representing the best of the LGPS and their advisers gathered to celebrate the 10th LAPF Investments Awards.

LAPF Investments editor Brian Gielty shimmied onto the stage with celebrity host and Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke to kick off proceedings, recognising group and individual achievements and looking back over a decade of change in the LGPS.

Essex Pension Fund won the LGPS Fund of the Year award for funds with more than £2.5 billion in assets, while Sutton won the same award for those with less than £2.5 billion.

There was double success for the West Midlands Pension Fund and Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, winning two awards each.

West Midlands was recognised for governance and investment strategy, while Border to Coast won Pool Achievement of the Year and the award for Sustainable Investment Strategy (Climate).

The judges also made two special individual awards to recognise long-term contributions to the LGPS sector. Congratulations to Joanne Donnelly, head of pensions at the Local Government Association, and Stephen Lee, director and head of institutional sales at Ninety One.

Alex Younger, head of funding and investment at Norfolk Pension Fund, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution of the Year for his work on the fund.

Ruby Vuong, pension fund manager at Tri-Borough Pensions, took home the hotly contested Rising Star award.

Winners received their awards from host Anton Du Beke, star of TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, during the event at the Pan Pacific Hotel in London. Attendees also celebrated the 10th year of LAPF Investments’ awards ceremony.

Other schemes picking awards included Cornwall, Wiltshire, South Yorkshire and Haringey.

On the adviser side, Robeco and Gresham House ended the night with a pair of trophies each.

Gresham House was recognised for impact investing and infrastructure investing, while Robeco was awarded for its strength in emerging markets, while also taking home the LGPS Fund Manager of the Year award.

Northern Trust won LGPS Service Provider of the Year, and other winners included T. Rowe Price, Insight Investment, bfinance, Eversheds Sutherland, AlphaReal, Churchill Asset Management and CBRE Investment Management.

Images from the night and a highlights video will be published shortly.