Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (“Border to Coast”) has committed £80m to support healthcare innovation and drive the energy transition in the UK, building on more than £1bn invested in the country’s private markets on behalf of Partner Funds.
Forming part of the pool’s innovative £0.5bn UK Opportunities strategy, two UK-focused funds have been earmarked for £40m of commitments respectively: UBS UK Life Sciences Property strategy and Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund II.
Border to Coast’s commitment to the UBS UK Life Sciences Property strategy will help build valuable real estate for the life sciences industry, supporting research, development and manufacturing in the UK, enabling medical innovation. Situated in the ‘Golden Triangle’ between Cambridge, Oxford and London, the developments will help meet high demand for specialist, energy-efficient real estate to support this growing industry.
The commitment to the Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund II will support the construction of renewable energy generation projects such as wind and solar farms, the decarbonisation of infrastructure, and increased grid stability, helping further the UK energy transition.
The latest commitments build on an existing £1bn invested in UK private markets, £1.3bn invested in UK real estate, and a further £10bn invested across UK public markets by the partnership.
Joe McDonnell, Chief Investment Officer, Border to Coast:“These investments are a prime example of what our UK Opportunities strategy is all about – investing in UK productive assets, such as new infrastructure projects, that improve our country’s capacity for economic growth, while also delivering good risk-adjusted returns to our Partner Funds over the long term. That’s extra value that members can enjoy in addition to returns.”
Border to Coast is owned by 11 local government pension schemes – “Partner Funds” – including Durham, Bedfordshire, Cumbria, East Riding, Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Surrey, Teesside, Tyne and Wear and Warwickshire.
Paul Cooper, Head of Pensions at Durham County Council Pension Fund, said: “Investment that has an impact in the communities we serve, and the UK as a whole, is a key aspiration of our investment strategy at Durham Pension Fund. First and foremost, that investment must be a sound financial choice, but having a genuine impact in those communities is also a key objective for us. Pooling through Border to Coast provides us more options to invest into a wider array of UK opportunities, and the projects announced today are testament to that.”
The UK Opportunities portfolio is one sleeve within Border to Coast’s broader Private Markets Programme, which as of 1 April 2025 has received further commitments of £2.5bn from Partner Funds – taking its total size to £18bn. The commitments will be invested globally across private equity (£585m), infrastructure (£775m) and private credit (£1.1bn).
Border to Coast continues to demonstrate how, through scale and innovative investment management, the LGPS and pools of pension capital can direct long-term, productive finance into the UK. Nonetheless, more can be done to encourage and enable greater levels of investment. A new report, published by the pool partnership in March, calls for structural reforms and incentives to help turn institutional appetite for UK investment, into action.
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