Pension fund to align £80m investment to EU fund
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South Yorkshire Pension Fund (SYPF) is set to align £80m of investment alongside a European Union urban renewal fund.
The fund has allocated the cash to support the Sheffield City Region JESSICA fund, which has invested £40.5m since 2013.
Property adviser CBRE’s investment advisory team – which already has responsibility for managing the JESSICA fund – has been appointed to manage the new investment.
Sue Ellis, chair of the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority, said: “This is an example of an area where we can achieve the commercial return we need to pay pensions at the same time as ensuring the delivery of schemes which will improve the long term prospects of the local economy.”
According to a statement from SYPF, the two funds will operate independently from each other, with the SYPF having complete autonomy over investment decisions.
However, the aim is to focus on strategic joint investments into larger scale projects as well as into alternative sectors, including residential and leisure.
The JESSICA fund is aimed at creating urban infrastructure and redeveloping brownfield sites for commercial and university floorspace.
John Mothersole, chair of the JESSICA investment board, welcomed the new investment, saying it will allow wider development to take place.
He said: “Not only does it demonstrate a ringing endorsement of the work undertaken by the SCR JESSICA to date, it also creates more opportunity for investment in the wider South Yorkshire property market, including areas such as residential, where the JESSICA has some limitations.”
In February, the SCR JESSICA fund, originally created in 2013, announced it had recouped its initial £22m of investments and was reinvesting more than £25.5m back into the local economy.
Some of the Fund’s investments include the redevelopments of Steel City House and the former National Union of Mineworkers offices in Sheffield.
Other projects include developments at Doncaster Sheffield Airport and at Gateway 36 in Barnsley, as well as commercial development at Little Kelham, and the construction of an office building at St Paul’s Place in Sheffield.
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