Cambridgeshire County Council’s Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Fund has now joined Border to Coast Pensions Partnership.
Border to Coast is the largest LGPS pool in the UK, overseeing or managing more than £120 billion of assets on behalf of more than two million LGPS scheme members at more than 5,000 employers. They are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The council’s decision to join Border to Coast, at the start of this new financial year, follows the Government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ consultation, which launched in November 2024, and proposed new requirements on how local authorities administered their LGPS.
Joining Border to Coast allows the Cambridgeshire Pension Scheme to have a stronger voice and work collectively with the other member funds to invest responsibly.
Led by the expanded pool, our Fund can now access a broader range of UK investment opportunities, such as high-quality, sustainable housing, that support both long-term pension returns and local economic growth.
Pooling may also create opportunities over time to benefit from greater scale, including the potential for lower investment management costs through shared resources. Across Border to Coast’s partner funds, this scale has helped generate significant savings, and these opportunities may increase further as the pool grows. Pool partners saved around £180 million between 2021-24.
The wider LGPS is also currently in a relatively strong funding position, which in some cases has given local authorities more flexibility over employer contribution rates. The decision to join a larger pool may help strengthen the Fund’s long-term resilience and options.
In time, the scale of the expanded pool could also enhance our ability to invest locally and regionally, by enabling funds to share risk across a broader range of places and opportunities.
One particular local example is Border to Coast’s announcement of the forward funding of 139 new single-family rental homes at Springstead Village in Cambridge. The £70m investment, made prior to Cambridgeshire County Council joining the partnership, will deliver 93 houses and 46 apartments for Cambridgeshire families, designed to high energy-efficiency standards, each with at least an EPC B rating.
Councillor Alison Whelan, vice chair of the Cambridgeshire Pension Fund Committee said: “We’re pleased to be working with Border to Coast as a Partner Fund, strengthening our ability to invest at scale in ways that benefit our members and the wider region.
“Border to Coast have a strong governance framework and I’m grateful to its management team for a smooth and beneficial transition for all of our scheme’s members.”
Border to Coast CEO, Rachel Elwell said: “We’re delighted that Cambridgeshire LGPS have selected Border to Coast as their pool of choice.
“We are committed to collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose. By joining together, we build on the collective experience and capabilities of all our member funds to not only strengthen our collective voice, but enhance our combined ability to deliver robust, sustainable, and cost-effective outcomes.”
