Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Leeds, England, is on track to save its partner pension funds more than £110 million ($150 million) in its first decade, the pool reported Friday.
It is the third annual report for the asset manager owned by 11 local government pension funds, with combined assets of £55 billion. The pension funds are Bedfordshire, Cumbria, Durham, East Riding, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Surrey, South Yorkshire, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and Warwickshire.
One of the U.K.'s largest public-sector pension pools, it was established in 2018 "to make a difference," Border to Coast Chairman Chris Hitchen said in a news release. "While we are only three years into our initial five-year strategic plan, given the challenges of setting up an FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) regulated asset manager and managing through COVID-19, what we have achieved together with our partner funds is truly impressive."
Border to Coast handles £35.4 billion of pool assets, directly managing £24.7 billion and providing advice on £10.7 billion. It has five equity funds and two in fixed income, along with private equity, infrastructure and private credit. It was recently approved for a multiasset credit fund due to launch later this year.
Annual cost savings are expected to significantly increase now that the initial setup costs are complete. "We fully expect to deliver cost savings of £250 million in our first 15 years of operation," CEO Rachel Elwell said in the news release. Although some of the partner funds are large and sophisticated investors in the U.K., "through collective endeavor, we are still delivering significant cost savings across the pool," and opening new investment opportunities, particularly in private markets, she said.
