Brunel puts £350 million towards long-lease property

Brunel Pension Partnership, the £30 billion asset pool of local authority pension funds mainly based in the south-west of England, has committed £340 million to property income funds, in order to provide secured income for the pool members.

Brunel said it has created a secured income portfolio which will deliver UK inflation-linked income returns, using long-lease property as the cornerstone asset class for the portfolio. For the first two investments in the portfolio, Brunel has selected two funds, the M&G Secured Property Income Fund and the Aberdeen Standard Long Lease Property Fund. With three LGPS clients having made commitments to the secured income portfolio, the asset pool will invest £169 million in each fund to achieve scale fee discounts.

Brunel’s head of private markets, Richard Fanshawe, commented: “The M&G and Aberdeen long-lease property funds were selected for their individual merits and the strength of the overall combination.” He added that the funds offer diversification, strong long-term performance and sector-leading sustainability credentials. M&G director, fixed income, Andrew Swan, said: “We are delighted that the Brunel Pension Partnership has chosen the M&G Secured Property Income Fund to deliver long-term inflation-linked income secured against high quality real estate across the UK.” And Aberdeen Standard Investments’ client director, Andrew Baird, said: “Working with Brunel, we are confident our long lease property fund will deliver a compelling real estate solution for the underlying clients.”