UK – The National Association of Pension Funds' proposed infrastructure fund should launch within the next couple of months, according to the organisation's chief executive Joanne Segars.
Interviewed in the upcoming September issue of IPE, Segars said participants were currently "honing the structure" of the Pension Infrastructure Platform (PIP) – launched after the UK Treasury signed an agreement with the pension industry body and the Pension Protection Fund as part of the 2011 Autumn Statement.
The PIP, which in February announced the names of its final two founding investors, has since launched a tender for a management mandate, but Segars indicated there was still work to be done.
Under the proposed structure for the limited partnership, Segars said the 10 founding investors would be limited partners, alongside the NAPF as general partner (GP) – despite a lack of clarity as to how the arrangement will look.
"Normally, the GP is sat within the managers, and we want to separate that out so the GP will have that governance, that oversight we require," she said.
Segars noted that the drafting of legal agreements was "tedious but very important for putting in place all the legal structures".
She added: "We are honing the structure, but we are very keen to do proper governance oversight of the PIP and the managers."
After a nearly two-year gestation period and initial suggestions from the Treasury that the fund would be £20bn, not the current £1bn with potential for leverage, Segars is also aware of the need to manage expectations.
"I'm aware a lot of public scrutiny is on this, and we need to make sure the success of the investments will build future success," she said.
For more on the PIP, see the September issue of IPE.
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