Eight local government pension scheme funds based in the Midlands area of England intend to create a multiasset investment pool of £35 billion ($53.3 billion) of assets.
The £11.5 billion West Midlands Pension Fund, Wolverhampton, announced the creation of the pool on its website.
Other pension funds involved are the Cheshire Pension Fund, Chester; Staffordshire County Council Pension Fund, Stafford; Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund, Matlock; Nottinghamshire County Council Pension Fund, Nottingham; Worcestershire County Council Pension Fund, Worcester; Shropshire County Pension Fund, Shrewsbury; and West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority Pension Fund, Wolverhampton.
The U.K. government wants England and Wales’ 89 local government pension schemes to come up with proposals to pool their assets into six British wealth funds, each with at least £25 billion of assets. These proposals are due Feb. 19, with final submissions due July 15. The aim is for new pooling arrangements to be set up by April 1, 2018.
The Midlands announcement highlighted meeting the government’s desired scale, and said the collaboration will target cost savings and improved investment performance based on scale, increased resilience, knowledge sharing, and robust governance and decision-making arrangements.
The announcement said the investment pool will offer access to both internal and external investment management, while participating pension funds will retain their separate identities and local accountability.
A spokesman for West Midlands Pension Fund declined to comment beyond the information in the announcement.