ACCESS Pool appoints Legal & General as Social & Affordable housing manager
ACCESS Pool – a collaboration of Central, Eastern and Southern Shires composed of 11 Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Administering Authorities, with assets totalling c.£45bn on behalf of participating pension funds, announces its commitment of £125m to Legal & General (L&G) to manage its affordable housing investment strategy.
The commitment will launch the L&G Affordable Housing Fund (“the Fund”). The Fund will invest in well-designed, purpose-built affordable rent and shared ownership housing in areas of acute need and demand across England whilst aiming to deliver a diversified inflation-linked cash flow for investors.
This new £125m allocation is a result of a competitive process, carried out by Apex Investment Advisory, launched in January earlier this year and follows recent allocations by the Pool to other areas of the private markets including timber and Infrastructure.
The Fund will aim to achieve strong ESG credentials with “Health and Wellbeing” and “Equity and Affordability” as its core social priorities, and will align with Legal & General’s commitment in achieving net zero carbon by 2050 or sooner. The pipeline consists of new-build, energy efficient affordable housing stock, >95% of which have an EPC rating B or higher.
Cllr Mark Kemp-Gee, Chairman of the ACCESS Joint Committee, said, “This allocation marks yet another key step in our initiative to diversify into the private markets. We have been impressed with L&G’s history of delivery in the affordable housing space over a long period and believe this investment partnership will provide robust, stable, long-term financial returns for our members alongside meaningful social benefits.”
Ali Farrell, Fund Manager, L&G Asset Management added: “We are thrilled that ACCESS have committed £125m which will directly increase the supply of affordable homes. With traditional housing associations facing financial pressures, institutional investors, like ACCESS, are proving themselves as reliable partners in directing long-term pensions capital into areas that support society by unlocking more homes.
“With proven investment expertise, having invested client capital into the real estate sector for more than 50 years, we are excited to continue playing our part and look forward to welcoming new partners; the Fund is a prime example of how we bring the best of L&G’s catalytic balance sheet capital to the fore, for third-party clients.”
Ben Denton, CEO, L&G Affordable Homes commented: “We are uniquely placed to tackle the current housing crisis and deliver more affordable homes given our expertise across fund management all the way through to the development and operations of assets. Having created assets for our own annuity division, we are delighted that ACCESS have chosen us as their partner supporting our belief that institutional investment can play a role in directly benefitting people. It is a real game changer that Legal & General is able to crowd in third party investors, making even more of an impact on tackling the acute shortage of affordable homes.”
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Notes for Editors
About the ACCESS Pool
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; West Northamptonshire Council; Suffolk County Council; and West Sussex County Council.
ACCESS Authorities are committed to collaborating 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.
As at 30 June 2024, ACCESS’ pooled assets totalled £45bn.
L&G Asset Management
L&G’s Asset Management division is one of Europe’s largest and a major global investor across public and private markets, with £1.2 trillion in assets under management.*
The division combines deep expertise in asset management and origination with global distribution capabilities to deliver positive outcomes for our clients, which include individual savers, pension scheme members and global institutions, investing alongside L&G’s own balance sheet. As a global investor, we are present where our clients need us – from Hong Kong and Singapore, to major European financial hubs, to Chicago – operating under the Legal & General and LGIM brands.
We provide investment solutions across the full spectrum of asset classes, ranging from index-tracking and active funds to liquidity and liability-based risk management strategies. Through our private markets platform, we utilise our rich heritage and extensive network of partners to offer access to a wide range of purposeful alternative investment opportunities, including specialist real estate, clean energy, infrastructure, venture capital, unlisted equities and private credit.
Our division is underpinned by our enduring commitment to responsible investment, dedicated to creating long-term, sustainable value for our clients and partners.
*Data as of 31 December 2023.