Updated with correction
Worcestershire Pension Fund, Worcester, England, committed £50 million ($61.7 million) to the Gresham House British Strategic Investment Fund, according to a spokeswoman.
The £300 million U.K. infrastructure and housing fund focuses on smaller midmarket investments aimed at job creation, improving health and social care and offering environmental benefits and a positive social impact in the U.K.
The commitment is in line with the local authority pension fund's investment strategy, the spokeswoman said. The pension fund is part of the £45 billion LGPS Central Ltd. asset pool, Wolverhampton, England. The pool is "in the process of developing infrastructure funds" but they will not be available until the end of the year, she added.
Worcestershire Pension Fund has £1.9 billion in assets.
West Midlands Pension Fund, Wolverhampton, England, and Greater Gwent Pension Fund, Pontypool, Wales, also committed to the fund. Allocation sizes were not available.
"We view this investment as complementary to our core infrastructure exposure. As we witness increasing demand for alternative sources of income as well as a growing emphasis on environmental, social and governance credentials, this partnership with BSIF represents a natural fit to also complement the fund's growing focus on sustainability," Jill Davys, assistant director-investments and finance at the £15.7 billion West Midlands Pension Fund, said in a Gresham House news release.
A spokesman for the £2.2 billion Greater Gwent Pension Fund said in the release: "We are pleased to have taken this positive step in investing in the U.K. infrastructure market and look forward to working with Gresham House for the foreseeable future."
