Border to Coast completes first £5.7 billion private markets programme

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has completed investment in its initial £5.7 billion private markets programme. It has secured a diverse range of new investment opportunities for its Local Government Pension Scheme partner funds, while reducing fees by around 24%.

Launched in 2019, the three year programme focused on infrastructure, private equity and private credit investing into 61 funds and three co-investments.

The final tranche was announced in June 2021 and has now been completed with almost £1.5 billion of new commitments made to infrastructure (£307 million), private credit (£915 million), and private equity (£232 million) funds.

“The success of our private markets programme is a prime example of the benefits pooling offers. It has delivered cost-effective access to investments that our partner funds in the LGPS may not have otherwise been able to access, and which offer the potential for attractive long-term, risk-adjusted returns,” said Mark Lyon, head of internal management, Border to Coast.

“With all £5.7 billion of assets committed within our first programme, we are now looking ahead to the opportunities we can pursue as part of our second programme – which included the innovative Climate Opportunities proposition – and continuing to deliver significant benefits for our partner funds.”