Local Pensions Partnership (LPP) has bolstered the infrastructure team within its in-house investment business with the appointment of Colin Simpson as part of a trio of new hires.

The £17bn (€19bn) local authority consolidation group has appointed the former Amber Infrastructure investment director to head LPP Investments’ (LPPI) infrastructure asset management.

Simpson’s new role includes managing stakeholder relations, identifying and executing strategic value enhancement initiatives and contributing to the wider business including the evaluation and origination of investment opportunities, LPP said.

LPP has also appointed Katya Romashkan as portfolio manager in the infrastructure team and Matthew Course as client portfolio manager, joining as a senior member of the strategy team.

Romashkan will be responsible for origination, execution and management of the group’s infrastructure investments. Prior to joining LPP, Romashkan spent 10 years working for Balfour Beatty Investments.

Course will work with the in-house investment teams to oversee the management of client portfolios. Before joining LPPI, Matthew spent time with Legal & General Investment Management, Mercer Investments and most recently with XPS Pension Group as a senior investment consultant.

 Chris Rule, CEO and CIO of LPP’s investment business, said: “A diversified investment strategy is one important part of LPP’s overall goal to deliver active stewardship of both assets and risk and liabilities, as well as complete end-to-end pension services for clients and members.

“These hires are exactly the type of talent we are looking for to achieve this ambition.”