MPF, which manages £9bn in assets on behalf of Merseyside’s public sector employees and pensioners is investing the money into a sustainable equity fund. Tony McDonough reports
Merseyside Pension Fund (MPF) is stepping up its contribution to the battle against climate change by investing £400m in a sustainable equity fund.
MPF, which manages £9bn in assets on behalf of Merseyside’s public sector employees and pensioners, is committed wherever possible to investing in companies that make a positive contribution to the environment.
It’s ‘climate strategy’ is to align its responsible investment policy and activities with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The latest announcement comes just days after the fund, the fifth-largest local government pension fund in the UK, revealed it was lending £20m to the developer Marcus Worthington Group towards the cost of converting the Grade-II listed North Western Halls in Liverpool from student accommodation into a 202-bed hotel.
MPF will invest £400 million in the new All World Equity Climate Balanced Multi-Factor Index Sub-Fund. In November, MPF announced that it had selected a Smart-Sustainability Index from FTSE Russell, to support the implementation of its Climate Risk Strategy.
The fund is being managed on behalf of MPF by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA). MPF has considered options for capturing both the risks and opportunities arising from climate change.
Owen Thorne, investment manager at MPF, said: “We are delighted to have completed the funding for our new All World Equity Climate Balanced Multi-Factor Index Sub-Fund, which has been seeded with £400 investment.
“Working in collaboration with FTSE Russell and State Street Global Advisors, the new fund provides us with an investable, risk-efficient means of achieving our decarbonisation goals.”