Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Leeds, England, hired abrdn to manage a planned £4 billion ($5 billion) U.K. real estate allocation, according to a news release.
The new real estate allocation is due to launch in 2024.
Abrdn will work with Border to Coast's dedicated internal real estate investment team to implement the investment strategy, source high-quality real estate assets and provide portfolio management services.
The manager will be required to provide active stewardship and embed ESG factors into the investment process and portfolio construction, Border to Coast said in the release.
The pool is responsible for £38.3 billion in assets for 11 U.K. local government pension schemes. The pension funds have a combined £60 billion in assets.
"U.K. real estate is a fundamental asset class for our partner funds' wider investment strategies. Our collective scale will allow us to deliver significant value for our partner funds, enabling us to invest in high quality assets and manage them for the long term, while meeting our, and our partner funds', responsible investment and net-zero commitments," Alistair Smith, head of real estate at Border to Coast, said in the release.
Alongside U.K. real estate, Border to Coast is planning to launch later in 2023 a separate global real estate allocation of £1 billion.
A spokesman could not be reached to comment about the appointment.
