Brunel Selects Neuberger Berman for Private Equity Vehicle With 40% Impact Weighting

London, October 30, 2023 - Brunel Pension Partnership Limited (Brunel) has selected Neuberger Berman to manage its third cycle private equity portfolio. The bespoke vehicle will have £626m of capital to commit.

The partnership between Brunel and Neuberger Berman dates back to 2019, when Brunel made a $60m commitment to an impact fund that sought positive social and environmental outcomes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, on behalf of four LGPS clients. In 2021, it awarded Neuberger Berman a £1.3bn climate transition-related multi-asset credit mandate and committed £175m to a Neuberger Berman senior direct lending fund.

The expansion of this relationship enables Brunel to implement its third vintage private equity portfolio. Neuberger Berman will help Brunel commit a majority of the capital to third-party primary funds; opportunistic secondaries and co-investments will be made via our commingled funds.

Crucially, the new mandate includes a 40% target to impact investments, in line with Brunel and Neuberger Berman’s shared agenda of investing in the new post-transition economy now. These impact investments must meet a range of social and climate priorities, and Neuberger Berman has strong credentials in ESG integration and impact investing across private equity.

The strategy will commit 40% to impact investments contributing to solutions for society and the planet, while the remaining 60% will be invested according to Brunel’s Responsible Investment Policy.

Jaime Alvarez, Portfolio Manager, Private Equity at Brunel Pension Partnership, says: “Private equity has always appealed to our clients as a diversifying asset class with attractive risk-return characteristics. Private equity also offers a particular opportunity to fulfil our clients’ Responsible Investment ambitions, both through investing with managers that incorporate robust ESG processes, and through increasing our allocation to the rapidly-growing impact investing asset sub-class. We already know Neuberger Berman well and trust its ability to select investments that are not only financially sound but also impactful.”

Ed Jones, Head of UK institutional client business at Neuberger Berman, says: “Private equity continues to provide an all-important source of diversification for institutional investors and opportunities for long-term value creation, which will be critical for delivering on LGPS investment objectives. For more than 35 years Neuberger Berman has built a well-resourced, experienced, and diverse team of private equity investment talent who source and manage a steady flow of high-quality investments on behalf of clients – it is pleasing that this expertise continues to be recognised. We thank Brunel for their ongoing collaboration across both private equity and fixed income to date.”

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. Neuberger Berman’s investment philosophy is founded on active management, engaged ownership and fundamental research, including industry-leading research into material environmental, social and governance factors. Neuberger Berman is a PRI Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms. With offices in 26 countries, the firm’s diverse team has over 2,750 professionals. For nine consecutive years, Neuberger Berman has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). The firm manages $439 billion in client assets as of September 30, 2023. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

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Fiona Kehily, +44 (20) 3214 9087, Fiona.Kehily@nb.com