Suffolk pension commits €55m to Partners Group

UK-based Suffolk County Council Pension Fund has invested €55 million in the Partners Group Direct Infrastructure 2015 Fund.

The latest commitment to the fund was confirmed following the pension’s meeting last week and adds the vehicle to its infrastructure portfolio. The latter also includes Partners Group’s 2012 and 2016 infrastructure funds, to which the pension scheme has committed a total of £96.7 million ($129.6 million; €110.4 million). Funds managed by KKR and M&G make up the remainder of its infrastructure book.

Suffolk noted that the Direct Infrastructure 2015 Fund has now deployed around 65 percent of its capital, as at June 2017, compared to 61 percent at the beginning of the year. Its investment in the fund follows moves by other UK local county pension schemes such as the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (€55 million) and most recently, the Clwyd Pension Fund (€10 million).

The net multiple on money invested in the fund is now 1.22x, according to documents from Suffolk, compared to 1.17x in December. Its net return currently stands at 9.9 percent, up from 9.1 percent in December and 8.1 percent year over year, meeting the vehicle’s 8 percent to 12 percent target.

The fund has made about nine investments so far which include solar platforms in the US, Japan and Taiwan, an offshore wind farm in Germany and a rolling stock PPP in Australia.

Suffolk noted that “although very early in its life”, the Partners Group fund does “appear to have solid foundations in place”. A report in March by the Suffolk scheme’s consultant, Hymans Robertson, noted the Partners Group 2012 vehicle had “found it difficult” to deploy capital, although this was later refuted by the pension fund.