Wiltshire teams up with five other Brunel funds to back renewables in South West England

The £3.1bn local government pension fund Wiltshire Pension Fund has joined forces with Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire pension funds backing £330 million in commitments to the Wessex Gardens fund managed by Schroders Greencoat.

All six funds are part of Brunel Pension Partnership, a £35 billion pool managing the assets of ten local authority pension fund.

Wiltshire Pension Fund alone has committed £100 million to the strategy which now makes 7% of its climate opportunities multi-asset strategy, acting as as a cornerstone investment.

Jennifer Devine, head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, commented on the investment: We are thrilled to be involved in this collaboration with other LGPS funds. Together we can use our scale to make a substantial, widespread positive impact, actively investing in and benefiting from the transition to a low carbon economy. To be able to deliver this impact across the South West and support business and societies in greening their grid is fantastic. We're delighted to be working with Schroders Greencoat again, and levelling up our impact across the region."

The mandate is focused on delivering local impact, targeting investments in renewable energy in the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.

It will target investments in a wide range of renewable energy technologies, including in traditional sectors of solar PV and wind, and innovative energy transition sub-sectors such as battery storage and green hydrogen production

Schroders said it represented the largest-ever commitment by UK local government pensions into place-based and locally focused renewable energy infrastructure.

The launch of this South-West focused strategy follows the launch of Greencoat Cornwall Gardens LP launched in 2022; a tailored fund targeting renewable assets in Cornwall supported by Cornwall Pension Fund and Brunel.