On the go: The £28bn Brunel Pension Partnership has launched its £2.1bn Sterling Corporate Bond Fund, selecting Royal London Asset Management to handle the assets.
The fund, designed to gain exposure to sterling bond markets and credit risk premium, was launched following a search conducted last year.
Brunel — which handles assets of 10 Local Government Pension Scheme funds with an aggregate size of £35bn — received 26 tenders for the search, shortlisted five, and ultimately chose Royal London.
Stephanie Carter, portfolio manager of Brunel’s Sterling Corporate Bond Fund, said: “Royal London has a highly diversified portfolio and a team-based approach, which gave us confidence that a single-manager solution met our clients’ aims.
“Fundamentally, returns are consistently driven by credit selection and, among all the applicants, Royal London offered the most impressive level of environmental, social and governance integration.”
The Sterling Corporate Bond Fund can invest directly into sterling-denominated bonds of UK and overseas public companies, international agencies, housing charities, private companies and via securitised debt.
David Cox, head of listed markets at Brunel, said: “The fund is highly diversified, providing our clients with access to a range of holdings, as well as a range of maturities.
"Our clients’ prioritisation of ESG considerations was also reflected in the fund’s design and manager selection process.
“The manager is contractually committed to providing evidence of ESG impacts of decisions taken in the fund, and of any broader contributions the fund is making to investing responsibly.”
This article originally appeared on MandateWire.com
