Wales Pension Partnership appoints Schroders Capital
The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) today announces the latest in its series of appointments to facilitate implementation of its Pooled Private Markets investment solutions.
Schroders Capital will develop the WPP pooled private equity investment programme, to meet Constituent Authorities’ needs in the asset class.
The appointment follows a rigorous procurement process run by the WPP with investment consultancy firm bfinance. The development will enable efficient and effective access to an illiquid asset class that has been a holding for LGPS funds for many years but that poses challenges in terms of access, cost and governance for single pension fund investors until scale is achieved.
Chris Moore, Director of Corporate Services at Carmarthenshire County Council (Host Authority for the WPP):
“Private Equity has been an important holding for the WPP Constituent Authorities but has historically been challenging to access in a cost effective manner. Pooling offers the opportunity to address this. We look forward to working with our newly appointed partners to meet this challenge and deliver efficient, effective and impactful Private Equity investment for the long term.”
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View AllSignatory to the UK Stewardship Code
We are delighted to announce that the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) remains as a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code.
https://www.frc.org.uk/investors/uk-stewardship-code/uk-stewardship-code-signatories
The 2020 UK Stewardship Code sets a high bar for stewardship, a standard which the Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) seeks to meet through its approach to responsible investment (RI). We are therefore delighted to have retained our signatory status for 2022.
Our focus for the year has been one of consolidation, reviewing our RI policies and building on our processes to ensure our pooling arrangement can better meet the needs of our beneficiaries. This year has seen more focus placed on the oversight and challenge of our providers, including undertaking deep dives into the climate and environmental, social & governance risks within our Sub-Funds. On our behalf, Robeco has voted on over 10,500 different resolutions and undertaken 280 individual company engagements. Our own focus on climate change is strongly reflected in a number of Robeco’s engagement themes and we continue to seek areas where we believe we support real-world change.
We recognise that there is still much more to do and, over the last 12 months, have appointed a dedicated RI resource to help us build on our RI commitments and meet the demands of stakeholders. We have also developed a Sustainable Active Equity strategy and a range of Private Markets funds, where consideration of stewardship and climate risk has been a focal point. We are also focusing effort on evaluating and communicating the progress the WPP has helped make on climate change over recent years.
We remain proud of our identity as a pool, where we will continue to evolve in collaboration with all eight Constituent Authorities within Wales – and the members of their pension schemes – to be effective stewards of their assets.
Wales Pension Partnership awards Private Markets investment contracts
The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) today announces a series of appointments to facilitate implementation of its Pooled Infrastructure and Private Debt investment solutions.
Russell Investments will develop the WPP pooled private debt investment programme, GCM Grosvenor will implement closed-ended infrastructure investments and open-ended infrastructure will be invested through CBRE Global Infrastructure Fund, IFM Global Infrastructure Fund and Octopus Renewables Infrastructure SCSp.
The appointments follow a rigorous procurement process run by the WPP with investment consultancy firm bfinance. The development will enable efficient and effective access to illiquid asset classes that are fast becoming significant holdings for LGPS funds.
The WPP’s Joint Governance Committee was established in 2017 and is responsible for oversight of the pool’s partner organisations and the services they deliver to the LGPS funds in Wales.
Carmarthenshire County Council acts as Host Authority, liaising day to day with the Pool’s external partners, on behalf of all of the LGPS funds in Wales.
Chris Moore, Director of Corporate Services at Carmarthenshire County Council (Host Authority for the WPP):
“Alternative asset classes have historically been challenging to access in a cost-effective manner. Pooling offers the opportunity to address this challenge. The WPP’s constituent funds have increasing strategic demand for these investments, and we look forward to working with our newly appointed partners to meet this demand.”
WPP wins the Pool of the Year Award at LAPF Investments Awards 2021
We are thrilled and honoured to announce that we were successful in winning Pool of the Year at the LAPF Investment Awards 2021, which took place in London on 29 March 2022.
We would like to thank all the 8 LGPS funds in Wales and our external providers for their continued support, our stakeholders and all involved in managing and providing an exceptional service to the WPP.