Eight local authority pension funds have committed 拢840m (鈧�926m) for new infrastructure investments through their investment pooling platform Brunel Pension Partnership.
The capital will be invested via two vehicles run by newly appointed manager StepStone Infrastructure and Real Assets (SIRA), with 拢470m allocated to renewable energy and the remaining 拢370m earmarked for other forms of infrastructure.
The renewables vehicle has already made commitments to Capital Dynamics Clean Energy Infrastructure Fund X, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners IV and Brookfield Asset Management IV Renewable Sidecar.
Brunel, set up to manage 拢30bn of investments of 10 local government pension schemes (LGPS), said the new capital would form the Cycle 2 Brunel Infrastructure Portfolio. It had previously raised 拢500m for Cycle 1.
鈥淥ur clients asked us to provide them flexibility to invest to meet their individual infrastructure objectives,鈥� said Richard Fanshawe, head of private markets at Brunel.
鈥淚n partnership with StepStone, we found an innovative way to make that happen whilst delivering the pooling objectives.鈥�
Brunel also said its infrastructure strategy would also be aligned with their sustainability objectives.
Sofia Deambrosi, infrastructure investment principal at Brunel, said: 鈥淲e believe it is crucial that investment is directed towards sustainable projects globally, to achieve the long-term objectives of our clients, support economic growth and work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.鈥�
She cited Gigawatt 1 鈥� one of the world鈥檚 largest solar energy projects in the US in which Brunel has invested through Capital Dynamics 鈥� as a 鈥済reat example鈥� of 鈥渂uilding back sustainably from the COVID crisis鈥�.
鈥淲e want managers who are raising the bar in their industries, in terms of technology, solutions, responsibility and sustainability,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hanks to LGPS pooling and the appointment of SIRA, our clients benefit from resilience to sustain net return outcomes whilst diversifying their exposure to assets, sectors and asset managers.
鈥淎 significant bonus of this arrangement is that our clients now benefit from two sources of scale advantage in fee and term negotiations 鈥� LGPS aggregation and StepStone aggregation. They also benefit from the might of a global infrastructure team to co-invest.鈥�
David Beamish, principal at Stepstone, said: 鈥淚n line with Brunel鈥檚 objectives, we will continue to target responsible investing with a clear focus on sustainability and climate change as well as other considerations, especially during the challenges of COVID-19.
鈥淚n line with Cycle 1, we remain focused on working closely with the Brunel team to access the best opportunities and partners in the market to provide long term, sustainable value for Brunel鈥檚 clients.鈥�
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