UK - The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has shed further detail on the shape of a proposed infrastructure investment fund, following last year's memorandum of understanding with the UK's Treasury, saying it intended to attract £1bn (€1.2bn) in subscriptions upon launch.

The PPF's chief executive Alan Rubenstein, speaking to the UK Sunday newspaper The Observer, said plans were in place for a shortlist of up to a dozen candidates to contribute launch capital, to allow for the hiring of staff.

A spokesman for the UK lifeboat fund confirmed that in addition to the £1bn raised from the initial subscribers, a further £1bn would be attracted from additional investors.

The PPF, alongside the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Treasury to help raise £20bn worth of assets towards the UK's infrastructure portfolio, with government estimates targeting an overall private sector contribution of 70% of the £200bn funding shortfall.

Alongside the NAPF and PPF, chancellor George Osborne's autumn statement also saw institutional investors worth £50bn sign a separate memorandum, with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and the London Pensions Fund Authority amoung the signatories pledging to promote the notion of infrastructure investment within the industry.

The PPF confirmed that while no decision on the structure of the new vehicle had been made, responses were in favour of a not-for-profit arrangement 

The fundraising effort comes at a time when infrastructure funds have seen a decline in interest, with figures from Preqin showing funds only raised half as much in 2011 as they did the year before, down $15.8bn (€12.2bn) to $16bn across 38 vehicles.
 

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