The Wales Pension Partnership, Carmarthen, awarded a £2 billion ($2.6 billion) real estate allocation to Schroders Capital, the private markets arm of asset management firm Schroders Group, according to a news release.
As part of the contract, Schroders Capital’s real estate team will deploy up to £400 million in positive impact and local investments across Wales, including affordable housing and healthcare. The allocation will also target impact opportunities across the U.K. which deliver positive social impact and decarbonization strategies that support WPP’s net-zero ambitions.
The remaining £1.6 billion of the commitment will be invested in U.K. core real estate focused on the industrial, retail and office sectors, as well as areas such as hotels, self storage and student accommodation.
The WPP is a collaboration of eight local government pension scheme funds in Wales and one of eight pension pools across England and Wales, and had £22.5 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2023. About 70% of the total assets of the pension funds have already been pooled.
“The appointment of Schroders Capital concludes the majority of the private markets investment managers for WPP," Elwyn Williams, chair of the joint governance committee at the WPP, said in the release. "Real estate is a core asset class for the eight Welsh Constituent Authorities and Schroders Capital will help provide the investment they need to meet their local strategic asset allocations.”
An annual update previously published by the WPP stated that, with the assistance of consultant bfinance, significant progress had been made in the design and implementation of the WPP private markets investment propositions.
Open-ended infrastructure managers at the WPP are IFM Investors, Octopus, and CBRE.
In 2023, a £500 million mandate was also awarded by the WPP to Schroders Capital to invest in global private equity.
Schroders Capital had approximately $97.3 billion in assets under management as of June 30.
