• Border to Coast appoints abrdn to support its UK Real Estate Fund proposition.
• As a specialist manager, it will work in close partnership with Border to Coast to help leverage the cost-effective scale of pooling, expanding access to high quality UK Real Estate investment opportunities.
• The appointment marks a further step in the launch of a pooled UK real estate investment proposition for Border to Coast’s Partner Funds.
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the UK’s largest asset owner pools, has appointed abrdn to support the launch and portfolio management of its UK Real Estate proposition.
Border to Coast’s 11 Local Government Pension Fund shareholders and investors (its “Partner Funds”) currently collectively invest c.£4bn in both directly held properties and indirectly through property funds. The Border to Coast UK Real Estate proposition, due to launch in late 2024, is designed to help Partner Funds to benefit from the scale that pooling brings.
abrdn will work with Border to Coast’s dedicated internal Real Estate investment team to support, develop and implement the investment strategy, source high-quality real estate opportunities across the UK, and provide portfolio management services for Real Estate assets. Active stewardship and ESG considerations will be embedded into the investment process including both portfolio construction and asset management.
The UK Real Estate proposition is an important pillar of Border to Coast’s wider investment offering being developed on behalf of its Partner Funds. Alongside a separate Global Real Estate proposition (anticipated to be c. £1bn in size and due to launch later in 2023), it will seek to deliver the benefits of pooling by offering access to a diversified range of high-quality Real Estate investment opportunities in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast, said: “UK Real Estate is a fundamental asset class for our Partner Funds’ wider investment strategies. Our collective scale will allow us to deliver significant value for our Partner Funds, enabling us to invest in high quality assets and manage them for the long term, while meeting our, and our Partner Funds’, responsible investment and net zero commitments.”
Cameron Murray, Head of Core Funds at abrdn, said: “We look forward to working closely with Border to Coast to deliver sustainable investment returns on behalf of the Partner Funds. Our strong track record in managing funds for Local Government Pension Schemes means we are uniquely placed to deliver the desired outcomes on behalf of the investors, while the size of our £43bn Real Estate business will enable us to provide depth and breadth of capability and at the same time benefit from efficiencies of scale.”
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