Border to Coast Pool Profile: building a £120bn investor in Leeds

As part of our new Pool Profile series, we highlight how Border to Coast’s investment capacity is evolving and meet some of the key people helping Border to Coast to become Fit for the Future.

With the six LGPS Pools having undergone a period of significant change, Room151’s exclusive new pool profile series highlights the new capabilities and faces shaping each pool.

We start our journey in Leeds with Border to Coast, which was the largest of the six pools by assets under management last year and now manages around £120bn in assets. The pool’s offices are just a stone’s throw away from the Leeds Corn Exchange, which emerged in the 19th century as a key trading hub for agricultural commodities.

Fast forward nearly 200 years and Toronto Square now hosts the headquarters of one of the UK’s largest institutional investors. Since the pool’s inception, the team has steadily grown from just over 40 people in 2018 to more than 200. Following the addition of seven new partner funds from the former ACCESS Pool, Border to Coast has seen its assets rise rapidly from around £65bn to £120bn, while the number of pension fund members it serves has doubled to around 2 million.

With the government having overhauled the tasks and responsibilities of pools under the Fit for the Future reforms, pools now face new requirements, ranging from obtaining FCA authorisation to building in-house capabilities to provide investment services and advice. Compared with some of its peers, Border to Coast is already closely aligned with the government’s vision for the LGPS, having been FCA authorised since 2018.

Border to Coast operates a dual governance model, whereby partner funds, as shareholders, provide strategic oversight through the Joint Committee, while the board governs the pool as an FCA-regulated investment manager.

While Border to Coast now provides investment management services across all partner funds, around £56bn is currently invested in Border to Coast pooled funds, with equities still accounting for the lion’s share.

Room151 has deployed AI to design the graphs.