The Brunel Pension Partnership and the Superannuation Arrangements of the University of London (SAUL) have invested £277m (€333.7m) in total in a newly launched Greencoat Capital UK renewable fund.
The Greencoat Renewable Income (GRI) fund will invest in solar, wind and bioenergy assets, with selected other green infrastructure opportunities such as renewable heat.
Greencoat said the fund has allocated £130m of capital by acquiring a share in the 40MW Templeborough Biomass Power Plant in Rotherham, investing in a share of two of the largest low carbon greenhouses in the UK – currently in construction, and by making a capital commitment to Greencoat Solar II fund.
Tatiana Zervos, portfolio manager for GRI at Greencoat Capital, said the new fund gives institutional investors access to a diversified portfolio of renewable infrastructure, through one vehicle.
“Greencoat Renewable Income caters to institutional investors of all sizes seeking access to the predictable returns provided by renewable infrastructure in a more diversified strategy.”
Gillian de Candole, investment principal at Brunel Pension Partnership, said: “This fund is a good fit both with our clients’ return expectations from secured income investments and Brunel’s partnership-wide commitment to act on climate change including extending the range and quality of climate-aware products available to our clients.”
Brunel is one of eight national Local Government Pension Schemes pools in the UK, managing £30bn of assets for the funds of Avon, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Environment Agency, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Kevin Wade, CIO at SAUL Trustee Company, the trustee of SAUL, said: “This investment will provide SAUL with a diversified, renewable infrastructure portfolio generating predictable cashflows to help meet our inflation-linked pension liabilities.
“We know that environmental issues are a key concern for our members and employers so we welcome the opportunity to invest capital in areas of the market that will help the UK to reduce its carbon emissions, importantly, without the need to forgo return.”
SAUL, set up on 1 April 1976 to provide pensions for non-academic staff at the University of London, currently £3.8bn of assets.
