Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) has committed £1.36bn to local investments, according to a new report by the social impact advisor The Good Economy.
The report outlined that GMPF has already invested £858.7m towards local investments, with the total capital committed of £1.36bn representing 4.5% of the fund’s £30bn investment value.
GMPF’s local investment portfolio includes two distinct mandates: the Impact Portfolio and the Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund (GMPVF). The pension fund has committed £828m towards the Impact Fund, with £535m committed to the GMPVF.
Through these two funds, GMPF has invested in small and medium enterprise finance (30%), commercial real estate (30%), residential housing (25%), infrastructure, including renewable energy and natural capital (12%) and social investment (2%). Two thirds of these investments (67%) are located in Greater Manchester and the North West.
Commenting on the report, Gerald Cooney, GMPF’s chair, said: “At GMPF, we place importance on assessing the risk, financial return and social, economic and environmental impacts of every local investment we make. We believe this represents a responsible way to invest.”
The report highlighted that these commitments have supported 18,300 jobs, created 4,395 new homes (some of which are still in development or planned) and invested in 13 renewable energy and other sustainable infrastructure assets.
Approximately 40% of its local investment portfolio is outsourced to investment managers through the Impact Portfolio and 60% is invested directly in property and joint ventures through an Investment Management Agreement with Avison Young, the report explained.
Many of GMPFs local investments are relatively immature, so it is too early to assess their financial performance. However, the internal rate of return performance of Impact Portfolio funds to date is 8.5% and 6.5% for GMPVF investments.
Source : Room151
