Legal & General is working to pool £15bn (€20bn) of institutional capital to invest in housing and infrastructure in the UK.
The UK insurer has committed £1.5bn of its own money to a new ‘regeneration funding’ vehicle that it will also manage.
The fund will work with the government’s Regeneration Investment Organisation, set up to help generate international investment in UK infrastructure.
If successful in raising third-party capital, the vehicle could help fund as many as 50 regeneration projects across the UK, including housing and infrastructure.
The fund will make equity and debt investments and will be able to take on construction risk.
Legal & General has already begun investing the regeneration of UK towns, including Salford, Canning Town, Plymouth, Bracknell and London. The insurer said the fund would represent the “industrialisation and scaling” of this model.
CEO Nigel Wilson said Legal & General was “well-positioned to work alongside UK and international money to channel funds into regeneration that delivers growth, homes and jobs”.
Last week, Legal & General’s investment arm announced that it was bringing together its property and infrastructure activities under a new ‘real assets’ division.
Legal & General Investment Management said it was looking to position itself to capitalise on “a logical handover of infrastructure investments from banks to insurance companies and pension funds”.
The new fund was announced today at an event hosted by UK Cities Minister Greg Clark.
“L&G’s decision to launch a £15bn regeneration vehicle and invest £1.5bn is fantastic news and a vote of confidence in the UK economy and our regional cities,” said Clark.
