The paper looks at why AlphaReal believes more pension schemes and institutional investors are set to increase their focus on social real estate, both regionally and nationally. It outlines how investing in social real estate, also often referred to as social infrastructure, can work particularly well for pension funds seeking to deliver a positive impact without sacrificing financial returns.
Social infrastructure offers long-term, inflation-linked income streams which are underpinned by robust, demographically driven fundamentals with the following outcomes:
- It delivers the vital infrastructure that communities rely upon, improving capacity and quality as well as enhancing the environmental sustainability of the built environment
- Investments can be made with local priorities and needs in mind
- Investors can work with local stakeholders to align interests, creating a shared impact for the benefit of local people and places
Pensions for Purpose exists as a bridge between asset managers, pension funds and their professional
advisers, to encourage the flow of capital towards impact investment.
The Pensions for Purpose Content Awards recognise businesses in the pensions industry for meaningfully contributing to industry related content development such as case studies, thought leadership papers and reports. Submissions were assessed by Pensions for Purpose representatives to select the shortlist, taking into consideration “originality, educational insight, presentation and relevance for pension funds.” The team looked for evidence of impact that was both intentional and positive as criteria for the impact award categories. The shortlist was evaluated by an external judging panel using the same assessment criteria.
Ed Palmer, CIO and Head of Sustainability, AlphaReal said, “We are delighted to have won this award. We have extensive experience in investing in social infrastructure and are eager to play a key role in supporting pension schemes and other asset owners in understanding this sector better.”
Stuart Hanson, Client Solutions, AlphaReal said, “Social infrastructure investing is a huge growth market as asset owners increasingly realise they can achieve attractive returns from this asset class whilst also making a positive and measurable difference to communities. We are increasingly working with public and private pension schemes in helping them to invest in this sector. ”
James Murray, Co-Head of Social Infrastructure, AlphaReal said, “We already have over £1.2 billion successfully deployed into social infrastructure, and we expect this to increase considerably over the coming years. If the UK is going to meet its targets for social care and housing, there needs to be a strong partnership between the public and private sectors, and institutional investors need to be at the centre of this.”
AlphaReal invests in UK and European assets with predictable, secure, long-term cash flows. The asset manager provides market leading and innovative real asset solutions across a range of investments such as commercial ground rents, UK renewable infrastructure, and social infrastructure.
AlphaReal was recently awarded ‘Impact Manager of the Year’ at the LAPF Investment awards in December 2022.
