Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (Border to Coast), one of the largest UK public sector pension pools in the UK with assets of circa GBP46 billion, has appointed Daniel Booth as its first permanent Chief Investment Officer (CIO).
Booth (pictured), is an investment professional with twenty years’ capital markets experience across both traditional and alternative investment asset classes. He joins from an eight-year tenure at Saudi Aramco, where he was Head of Portfolio Management, responsible for the investment of large corporate pension, insurance and endowment portfolios, all of which were invested globally across the full range of asset classes.
Booth was instrumental in the build-out of the investment function at Saudi Aramco, which under his leadership became the top performing multi-asset Saudi investment entity and a globally respected investor. Prior to joining Saudi Aramco in 2010, Booth was based in Frankfurt, Germany, and was Head of Alternative Asset Research at Prime Capital, responsible for establishing the alternative asset investment platform and before that an Investment Director with FERI alternative division.
Booth joined Border to Coast on 3 September having relocated from Saudi Arabia to York. His role is effective immediately and to ensure a smooth transition he will work alongside interim CIO John Harrison ahead of a formal handover during Q4 2018.
Booth says: “It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to assume a leadership role at Border to Coast at such a pivotal time. I am very much looking forward to contributing to its future success. The UK pension pooling agenda will allow our Partner Funds to compete with the most sophisticated global investors and maximise their future risk-adjusted investment returns. It is an honour to accept this role and I will endeavour to protect and serve the needs of the many pension scheme members and taxpayers of the different underlying Local Government Pension Funds to the best of my abilities.”
Rachel Elwell, CEO, says: “I am very pleased to confirm that Daniel is joining Border to Coast and we are all very much looking forward to working with him over the coming years. Daniel brings a strong understanding of the investment world, and in particular in private markets, an area of focus for us, together with hands-on experience of building an investment function for a long-term asset owner in his previous role. I would also like to thank John Harrison for all his guidance, support and sheer hard work during 2018; John will be handing over to Daniel an investment function that is set up for success.”
Chris Hitchen, Chair of Border to Coast, adds: “The Board, with support from our shareholders, join Rachel in welcoming Daniel to Border to Coast. His appointment will contribute strongly to our future development. Our ability to attract a CIO of Daniel’s calibre and experience is testimony to both the importance of our voice as a pensions pool and Daniel’s vision for how that can develop in the future”.
