Pensions, Pooling and Infrastructure
Investment and Pensions in Europe has an interesting article in their November issue on the pressures on UK Local Government Pension Funds to club together, pool funds and make the investment in UK infrastructure projects that Central Government will not fund The issues are many, and there is a diversity of opinion on how desirable / practicable / safe this is, as well as on the whole question of shifting capital expenditure by the government into revenue expenditure over years. The final paragraph of the article makes the point that someone is going to have to guarantee it all.
The best way to guarantee an increased exposure is to offer up low-risk or financially rewarding infrastructure projects, potentially by reducing the level of construction risk. At a time when the UK government is launching a National Infrastructure Commission to advise on future projects, one could expect further examination of investment guarantees or an infrastructure bank to help growth in the area.”
