Northamptonshire Pension Fund’s recently published Annual Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 details a strategic decision to transition its pooling partnership.
Pooling Partner Transition Initiated
The Fund has concluded that Border to Coast Pension Partnership (BCPP) is its preferred pooling partner, following an evaluation process to determine alternative pooling options. This decision comes after ACCESS’s proposal to become an FCA-regulated investment management company was not supported by the Government. An Expression of Interest to join BCPP has been submitted, alongside six other LGPS funds from ACCESS. Further due diligence and governance steps are underway to progress the transition, including obtaining approval from BCPP partner funds. On November 27, 2025, the Council approved BCPP as the Fund’s preferred pooling partner and authorized the necessary steps for the Administering Authority to become a shareholder in BCPP (page 3, 54).
Strategic Asset Allocation Adjustments
For the fiscal year 2024-25, the Pension Fund Committee approved changes to the strategic asset allocation in March 2023. These changes include a 12.5% reduction in equity allocation, removing the standalone UK equity allocation while retaining passive equity at 20%. Fixed income allocation increased by 10% and alternatives by 2.5% to enhance exposure to inflation-linked, cashflow-generative assets and protect the funding position. The Diversified Growth Fund (DGF) allocation was reduced by 5% to facilitate direct investment in private market alternative assets. The Fund also plans to consider sustainable and impact opportunities across an expanded private markets portfolio, aligned with “levelling up” guidance (page 58).
Investment Manager Changes and New Allocations
During the fiscal year, the Fund implemented several changes to align with the new strategic asset allocations. This included the sale of DGF assets (£107 million) and equity assets (£71 million) to fund increased private market allocations. New investments were made in a long lease property manager (£40 million), a Timberland manager ($16 million), and a Social & Affordable Housing manager (£20 million). Equity sales of £60 million were executed to fund an increased allocation in index-linked gilts, and exposure to infrastructure was increased by £64 million. Additionally, within the ACCESS pool, the Fund replaced its “value” equity manager (£288 million) and transitioned two global infrastructure manager holdings to a GBP hedged share class (£154 million) to reduce currency risk (page 58).
Levelling Up Investments
As of March 31, 2025, the Fund has 3% of its assets invested in “levelling up” assets, which contribute to the missions set out in the Statement of Levelling Up Missions and support local areas within the United Kingdom. The ambition is for funds to invest up to 5% of their assets in such projects. Current levelling up assets include M&G UK Residential Property (£47.2 million), Catapult Ventures (£0.6 million), M&G Shared Ownership Fund (£47.6 million), and LGIM Affordable Housing (£6.6 million), totaling £102.0 million (page 6, 56).
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