Off the record, on the road: Our CSO’s latest private markets insights
Key takeaway
In June, the UK’s parliament passed the Pension Schemes Act. This new law paves the way for the country’s pension schemes to scale up their capabilities through consolidation and encourages them to invest more of their assets into private markets. In the latest edition of ‘Off the Record, On the Road’, Luba Nikulina, IFM Investors’ Chief Strategy Officer, joins Gregg McClymont, executive director for public affairs, policy and strategy in London to discuss the implications of the new law on infrastructure investing in the country.
We have in the UK the National Wealth Fund, that can provide this first layer of risk and help pension funds invest in greenfield [projects]. It’s going to be exciting for this economy.
After a hectic first half of the year, involving client discussions across the world, Luba returns to the London office to discuss a major piece of pensions reform legislation with Gregg McClymont. The Pension Schemes Act actively encourages local government pension schemes to consolidate and so improve their internal investing capabilities. This should also enable them to better invest into private markets at home and abroad, in line with the Mansion House Accords.
As Luba notes to Gregg, the legislation also allows DC trustees to pool investment risk across all members. These changes could spur more private pension capital to invest into greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects across the UK, supporting local economies and communities.
Luba Nikulina
Luba is IFM Investors' Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for leading the development of IFM’s global strategy with a focus on private markets solutions that meet the needs of Australian and global pension funds and their members. Luba joined IFM Investors from WTW, (previously known as Willis Towers Watson), where she was Global Head of Research, advising some of the world’s largest asset owners on strategy, governance and investments, managing a team of over 100 analysts. During her time at WTW, she worked in London and New York and was responsible for establishing WTW’s private markets capabilities. Luba has over 25 years of investment industry experience and has served on the UK Government’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce, City of London’s Socioeconomic Diversity Taskforce, and co-chaired the Investment Consultants Sustainability Working Group.
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