Devon County Council Pension Fund has invested £40m in Aviva Investors’ Returns Enhancing and Liability Matching (REaLM) strategies.
It has committed £20m to the REaLM Infrastructure fund and £20m to the REaLM Ground Rents fund.
Aviva Investors said the Devon County Council Pension Fund was the first local authority pension scheme to invest in its REaLM Infrastructure fund, which focuses on a range of projects across the UK.
The move comes as part of a recent move by the Devon fund to increase the target allocation to infrastructure from 2% to 4%. The fund has also committed £45m to the First State European Diversified Infrastructure fund and has an existing £30m investment in the UBS International Infrastructure fund with a further commitment of $5m expected to be drawn later this year.
Devon County Council assistant county treasurer Mark Gayler said: “Inflation is one of the key risks faced by pension funds. The Devon Pension Fund’s investment in the Aviva Investors REaLM funds will provide protection against UK inflation, whilst offering diversification at relatively low risk.”
Aviva Investors client director, real estate, Phil Ellis said: “We are pleased that the Devon County Council Pension Fund has become the first local government pension scheme to invest in the REaLM Infrastructure Fund. As more and more local authorities invest in UK infrastructure projects, we believe that REaLM represents a fantastic solution for clients looking for infrastructure investments that offer secure, long-term and inflation-linked income streams.”
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