Investment pooling - LGPS Central

The Shropshire County Pension Fund continued to work with eight other funds in the Midlands region during the year. LGPS Central Ltd has been established to manage investment assets on behalf of its eight Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds across the Midlands region. It is a multi-asset manager, investing up to potentially £55.3 billion of assets (£28.5 billion invested as at March 2022), on behalf of 900,000 LGPS members and 2,500 employers 

LGPS Central Ltd is jointly owned on an equal share basis by eight pension funds and is a Collective Portfolio Management Investment Firm (CPMI) regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The participating pension funds are Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority (ITA) Pension Fund will also be an investor, but not a shareholder, with its shareholder rights represented by West Midlands. The key objectives of LGPS Central will be to deliver cost savings and improve risk adjusted investment returns after cost, enable access to a wider range of asset classes for the participating pension funds, and to ensure good governance. LGPS Central manage a wide range of asset classes, employing a mix of internal and external investment management. 

The majority of assets under management are structured in an Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS), itself regulated by the FCA, in addition to other pooled investments held in alternative structures. The company has been formed to act as an Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) to allow the participating LGPS administering authorities to pool their respective investments. The governance structure for LGPS Central has been agreed by all partner funds. The LGPS Central Board and Executive Committee are in place.