Brunel exceeds pooling ambitions again, says report

Brunel Pension Partnership is making cost savings of £34 million per year, two years ahead of its initial target of £27.8 million a year by 2025.

The pool’s annual report and financial statements shows it is saving almost four times the costs it incurs thanks to the management fees it negotiates.

While Brunel set the specific targets on cost savings, it was the UK government that defined the broader ambitions when it launched the pooling process: to make cost savings while enhancing performance; and to enhance investment in UK infrastructure.

Infrastructure is a core part of Brunel’s focus and it is in its third cycle of private market portfolios. These portfolios have targeted a range of infrastructure projects with £819 million invested, through which it had delivered £6 million in cost savings.

Brunel also set leadership in responsible investment as a key target, and last year saw Brunel launch the Cornwall Local Impact portfolio, the first LGPS multi-asset portfolio to target local impact.

Though a relatively small portfolio, Brunel negotiated mandates with two leading global managers – one for affordable housing, the other for renewables – to target these priorities in a county where both poverty and climate change are significant challenges.

The pool also completed its first climate stocktake, which informed the publication of its new Climate Change Policy 2023-30.

Laura Chappell, CEO, Brunel Pension Partnership, said in her introduction to the report: “The twin challenges of transition finance and accelerating global change are enormous.

“By delivering on the goals set by our partnership, we will not just benefit our clients and their members. In the long term, we will demonstrate to the wider industry our belief that RI is indispensable to achieving healthy long-term returns.”