Devon County Council Pension Fund has committed to make an investment of GBP40m in Aviva Investors’ Returns Enhancing and Liability Matching (REaLM) strategies.
Half of the investment has been committed to the REaLM Infrastructure Fund, with the other half committed to the REaLM Ground Rents Fund.
The commitment means that Devon County Council Pension Fund is the first local authority pension scheme to invest in the REaLM Infrastructure Fund, which focuses on a range of projects across the UK. The REaLM suite of funds currently has combined commitments and assets under management of GBP1.6bn with the Infrastructure Fund comprising GBP396m of the total.
Mark Gayler, assistant county treasurer at Devon County Council, says: “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.”
Phil Ellis, client director – real estate – at Aviva Investors, says: “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.”
