Northern LGPS Pool Statement: Government Confirmation on Pooling Business Plan
Submitted by Editor on Mon, 14/04/2025 - 15:22
The Northern LGPS appreciates the government’s confirmation that it is supportive of our business plan to develop the pool, which we submitted in line with the criteria set out in the ‘LGPS - Fit for the Future’ consultation.
We now look forward to the government’s response to the consultation, which we expect will provide much-needed clarity on the future regulatory and operational requirements for LGPS pools. A clear framework will be essential in ensuring that pooling continues to deliver strong governance, efficiency, and value, and allow us to move forward with confidence.
We also acknowledge the constructive engagement with government and stakeholders and will continue to work towards delivering the best outcomes for our partner funds, their members and employers.
The Northern LGPS Pool
The NLGPS is a partnership between three of the largest funds in the LGPS in England & Wales - Greater Manchester Pension Fund (“GMPF”), Merseyside Pension Fund (“MPF”) and West Yorkshire Pension Fund (“WYPF”). As of 31 December 2024, the combined assets of these funds totalled £62.7 billion, which are invested for over 870,000 members and 1,250 contributing employers. WYPF also hosts a shared service pension administration function for three other LGPS funds and 24 regional fire authorities, providing LGPS administration to c. 200,000 other LGPS scheme members.
Achievements to date
- Scale: at over £59bn of Pool assets held in pooled vehicles or under pool management as at 31 March 2024 (all partner fund assets other than cash), we have achieved significant scale to invest efficiently, with the largest mandates in the LGPS.
- Investment in the UK: with over £26bn held in UK investments across our three partner funds, we are more than 43% invested in the UK, which we understand is higher than any other Pool.
- Value for money: our publicly available cost benchmarking (provided by CEM) shows a total investment cost of 38.4bps, competitive by international standards and meaning our per member costs at a fund level are amongst the lowest in the LGPS.
- Net savings of over £216m since our inception in 2017.
- Internal investment capabilities with c. £18bn in internally managed equity, bonds and cash, and internal oversight of a further c. £16.5bn of private markets investments (including property and alternatives).
- Strong investment performance: outperformed our composite benchmark by 0.9% over three years to 31 March 2024 (equivalent to over £500m of value added).
- Local investment expertise: including over £1.4bn (5% of assets) committed by GMPF to local investments that aim to positively benefit Greater Manchester and the North West; MPF currently holds a further £100m in local investments, and WYPF has local commitments of over £100m across its property and alternatives portfolios (much in partnership with the NLGPS and other LGPS funds).
- Cross-pool Collaboration: we work with LPPI to invest directly at scale and low cost in UK infrastructure via GLIL.
- Innovative investments: which benefit the partner funds in the pool and also the wider UK, including:
- supporting new businesses emerging from our world class universities through our investments in Northern Gritstone
- helping solve the housing crisis through residential housing investments and working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Number 10, Treasury (“HMT”) and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”) to develop a ‘patient equity’ financing solution to unlock unviable brownfield housing developments, which is 80% more efficient than grant funding;
- investing in nature-as-a-service through our work with Rebalance Earth; and
- currently collaborating with the National Wealth Fund (NWF) to develop a proposal for investing in a District Heating Network in Liverpool. The Pool previously supported the project's development phase by providing loan financing.
- Staying true to our roots: with skilled investment jobs in Bradford, Tameside, and Merseyside
