Brunel Pension Partnership has committed €50m to an infrastructure fund as it seeks to funnel £500m (€579m) of local government pension scheme (LGPS) capital into the asset class.
Brunel, set up to manage some £30bn of consolidated LGPS funds, made the commitment to Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund II, which invests in continental European infrastructure.
It will form part of the Brunel Infrastructure Portfolio, to which six of Brunel’s 10 LGPS members have committed £500m.
A spokesperson for Brunel said the £500m represented the “first cycle” of the new infrastructure portfolio and “further substantial commitments” could be made in the future.
The investment with Mirova follows the announcement in January of a €30m commitment to the NTR Renewable Energy Income Fund II.
According to a Brunel report in October, the infrastructure allocations of its LGPS members stood at 5% of total assets, or £1.45bn.
The Mirova fund has already made a number of investments, including a district heating network in Norway, a broadband network in France, an Italian hospital concession and a number of transport and social infrastructure concessions in Spain.
Gillian De Candole, investment principal in Brunel’s private markets team, said: “Mirova has a strong reputation for generating attractive returns for investors via sustainable investment and strong ESG processes.
“This fund is a good fit with both our clients’ return expectations from infrastructure, but also their combined commitment to be responsible, long-term owners of sustainable investments.”
She added: “The fund is shaping up nicely and is already over 60% invested, providing Brunel with good visibility and immediate exposure to a number of seed assets.”
