Neuberger Berman to Manage £626m Private Equity Portfolio for Brunel

Oct 19, 2023 | News

Brunel Pension Partnership, one of the eight Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pools, has launched its third cycle private equity portfolio, which has £626m of capital to commit.

The pension pool, which manages £38bn of investments, has selected Neuberger Berman to manage the vehicle named NB Clifton Private Equity III.

According to Brunel, Neuberger will help Brunel invest most of the capital in  third-party primary funds, with opportunistic secondaries and co-investments made through Neuberger Berman’s commingled funds.

The pension pool also stated that the new allocation includes a 40% target to impact investments, in line with its shared agenda with Neuberger of investing in the new post-transition economy now. The remaining 60% will be invested according to Brunel’s Responsible Investment Policy.

Jaime Alvarez, portfolio manager, private equity at Brunel, said: “Private equity has always appealed to our clients as a diversifying asset class with attractive risk return characteristics.

“Private equity also offers a particular opportunity to fulfil our clients’ Responsible Investment ambitions, both through investing with managers that incorporate robust ESG processes, and through increasing our allocation to the rapidly-growing impact investing asset sub-class.”

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The pension pool added that its partnership with Neuberger Berman dates back to 2019, when Brunel made a cornerstone $60m commitment to the Neuberger Berman Private Equity Impact Fun on behalf of four LGPS clients.

In 2021, it awarded Neuberger Berman a £1.3bn climate transition-linked multi asset credit mandate and committed £175m to NB Private Debt IV, a senior direct lending fund.

Ed Jones, head of UK institutional client business at Neuberger Berman, added: “Private equity continues to provide an all-important source of diversification for institutional investors and opportunities for long-term value creation, which will be critical for delivering on LGPS investment objectives.”

Source: Room151

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