Railpen, the manager of the UK’s rail transport pension schemes, has promoted Lewis Vanstone to head of infrastructure.
Lewis, who joined Railpen in 2019, has played a central role in expanding Railpen’s infrastructure portfolio across renewable energy, energy storage, waste collection, hospitals and other essential infrastructure projects – with a steady shift from core assets into higher-returning, earlier-stage growth infrastructure.
Railpen said the appointment “reflects the organisation’s commitment to delivering long-term, sustainable returns” for its 350,000 members.
Anna Rule, director of real assets and private markets at Railpen, said: “We are delighted to appoint Lewis, whose leadership and deep industry expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow and diversify our infrastructure portfolio. This appointment reflects our belief in the importance of the asset class – not only in delivering secure and sustainable outcomes for our members – but with wider-reaching environmental, societal and economic benefits.”
Vanstone added: “It is a privilege to take on this role at such an exciting time for Railpen’s infrastructure strategy. The opportunities within the asset class are broad and reach beyond Railpen’s current asset mix, considering waste, zero-emission transport and digital infrastructure, as well as renewable energy and social infrastructure.
“My aims within this role are to build upon our well-established infrastructure capability, diversify our infrastructure holdings, further develop our co-investment approach, and ultimately deliver resilient infrastructure returns to secure our members’ future.”
Railpen currently allocates around £1.2bn (€1.38bn) to infrastructure through a combination of direct and indirect investments.
Lewis will lead Railpen’s infrastructure team as it deepens its presence in renewable energy and essential services infrastructure, including the expansion of collaborations with AGR Power and Constantine Energy Storage.
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