CEO leaves UK’s Pension Infrastructure Platform

Mike Weston is leaving  the UK’s Pension Infrastructure Platform as chief executive after more than four years at the helm.

PIP announced that Weston has decided to step down and will be replaced internally by chief operating officer Paula Burgess. It is believed Weston does not have an immediate next move planned.

PIP and Weston were unavailable for further comment.

Burgess has been with PIP since 2015 and led the design and launch of its fund, the Multi-Strategy Infrastructure Fund. The vehicle originally had a £1 billion ($1.3 billion; €1.1 billion) target, although this was later downsized to £600 million following a divergence of strategy among some of PIP’s members.

The fund became almost fully invested towards the end of 2018. Market sources have told Infrastructure Investor the group was considering a follow-up vehicle last year. While these plans are currently thought to be on hold, PIP is believed to be considering investments on a separate account basis

Weston had led the platform since September 2014 and oversaw PIP’s growth from managed investments to collating a direct portfolio under the MSIF, which included a variety of renewable energy projects, Red Funnel and several social infrastructure sites.

Its largest deal came in November 2017 with the £400 million acquisition of 10 PPP projects from a former Aberdeen Asset Management fund. One of the projects included the Royal Liverpool Hospital, where PIP’s investment is believed to have been written off as worthless following the collapse of Carillion last year.

PIP’s founding members include British Airways Pensions, Lloyds TSB pension schemes, the Pension Protection Fund, Railpen, Strathclyde Pension Fund and the West Midlands Pension Fund.