ACCESS LGPS Investment Pool adds £5.5bn with the launch of seven new sub-funds
ACCESS LGPS Investment Pool adds £5.5bn with the launch of seven new sub-funds
The assets invested by the constituent schemes brings the total ACCESS Pool assets under management to £31bn1
Seven externally managed funds invest in a range of global equities and bonds
8 February 2021 – Link Fund Solutions Limited (LFS), on behalf of the ACCESS, has launched seven new sub-funds, adding £5.5bn to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pool.
The transfer of assets to the range of global and equity externally managed sub-funds brings the total pooled assets under management within ACCESS to £31bn, with £20.4bn managed actively within the LFS Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS) and a further £10.7bn in passive funds.
The sub-funds launched in November and December 2020 include the LF ACCESS Global Alpha Equity Fund and LF ACCESS Sterling Aggregate Bond Fund managed by Baillie Gifford, and the LF ACCESS UK Equity Fund managed by Majedie Investments.
ACCESS is a collaboration of 11 LGPS schemes which enables the investments on behalf of more than one million members and 3,250 public sector employers. With these new funds, ACCESS now provides each Local Authority with the opportunity to join any of 22 actively managed sub-fund strategies via the ACS platform operated by LFS.
Cllr Kemp-Gee, Chairman of the ACCESS Joint Committee, said, “This is another significant step in ACCESS’s journey in the pooling process, as we collaboratively build our offering and give each authority the ability to invest to meet their members’ needs.
These funds enable the Local Authorities to allocate towards pooled vehicles that benefit from the increased economies of scale, reduced costs and greater access to investment strategies they may not have the resources to reach outside of a pool.
The ACCESS Joint Committee works closely with LFS who have selected these fund managers so they can deliver the cost savings and investment performance required as part of our successful track record since the launch of the pool.”
Karl Midl, Manager Director of Link Fund solutions said: “We are extremely pleased to further expand the fund range with ACCESS and the investing authorities following our appointment in 2018 as Operator to the ACS platform. With these seven sub-fund launches, we are now responsible for in excess of £20.4 billion of ACCESS assets across equities, bonds and fixed income. The progress we have all made to date is a testament to the great collaboration with all 11 constituent authorities, including officers, members, and their advisers”.
-ENDS-
1 As at 31 December 2020, the ACS contained £20.4bn of active assets, and £10.7bn of passive assets were held with UBS
Notes for Editors
Media enquiries:
ACCESS
Calum MacDougall, ENGINE MHP
access@mhpc.com / 07712 536 361
Link Group
UK & Europe:
David Sells (DSells@teamspirit.uk.com, 07464 985096)
Sandy Downs (sdowns@teamspirit.uk.com, 07384 907528)
Olivia Nelson (onelson@teamspirit.uk.com, 07392 106925)
About the ACCESS Pool
The ACCESS (A Collaboration of Central, Eastern and Southern Shires) is made of 11 LGPS Administering Authorities: Cambridgeshire County Council; East Sussex County Council; Essex County Council; Hampshire County Council; Hertfordshire County Council; Isle of Wight Council; Kent County Council; Norfolk County Council; Northamptonshire County Council; Suffolk County Council; and West Sussex County Council.
The ACCESS Administering Authorities are committed to working together and have each signed an Inter Authority Agreement, setting out how they will work together in response to the Governments pooling agenda across the LGPS, and to optimise benefits and efficiencies on behalf of their individual and collective stakeholders.
ACCESS appointed Link Fund Solutions Limited to provide Operator services in early 2018.
Link Fund Solutions Limited is responsible for establishing and operating the Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS) along with creating the investment sub-funds and appointing the investment managers to those sub-funds.
About Link Group
Link Administration Holdings Limited (Link Group) administers financial ownership data, driving user engagement through technology. Our investment in technology, people and processes enables us to deliver comprehensive data and information for companies, large asset owners and trustees across the globe.
Our clients are from all industries, including some of Australia’s largest pension funds and global corporations, and we are always developing our services to meet their needs.
For more information, visit https://www.linkgroup.eu/