Border to Coast's partner funds include the Tyne and Wear Pension Fund
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has completed £1bn of additional private market fund commitments since April.
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pool said the additional commitments build on the success of its £18bn private markets programme.
Launched in April 2025, the third series of the programme has received £2.5bn in commitments from partner funds. Border to Coast's in-house private markets team has so far deployed more than £1bn of that capital to specialist funds investing in infrastructure (£515m), private equity (£500m), and private credit (£58m).
Border to Coast said the private markets programme had leveraged the benefits of scale – expanding access to innovative, long-term investment opportunities while cutting costs for partner funds by an average of 28%.
It said the programme has also unlocked access to greater potential risk-adjusted returns through co-investment opportunities.
In the latest series of the programme, Border to Coast has partnered with KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund in the purchase of a joint venture with American Electric Power (AEP). It has also partnered with Meridiam on a North American road project.
Border to Coast said these sort of co-investments, which were often not available to LGPS funds prior to pooling, offered strong global diversification and the potential for additional long-term returns.
Border to Coast chief investment officer Joe McDonnell said: "The private markets programme is a real-time demonstration of the value gained through scale, and maximising that scale through an expert in-house investment team. It expands access to an innovative range of investment and co-investment opportunities around the world while dramatically reducing costs for partner funds. We are incredibly proud of the progress it has made to date."
The most recent commitments by Border to Coast will invest in sectors such as:
- Digital and social infrastructure, as well as major transport projects.
- Supporting energy security, generation and distribution.
- Specialist exposure to growth in Asia Pacific in assets including transport, digital, and logistics, expanding and diversifying Partner Fund private market strategies.
- The provision of growth capital to support companies in private equity and private credit strategies.
Commitments made within series three of the programme are in addition to commitments made within Border to Coast's specialist UK Opportunities, Climate Opportunities, and global real estate strategies – which are separate sleeves within the private markets programme.
Border to Coast private markets programme commitments (series 3A) include:
Infrastructure
- StepStone Secondaries Infrastructure Fund ($165m (£123m)) – A specialist fund offering greater liquidity in infrastructure investments by seeking secondaries in infrastructure-focused private market funds.
- iCON Infrastructure Partners VII ($130m) – Targeting brownfield infrastructure investments, the fund supports the development of energy distribution and storage, water, waste, digital, renewables, healthcare, and transport and logistics across the UK, Europe, and North America.
- Project Olympus ($45m) – A co-investment alongside KKR Diversified Core Infrastructure Fund in a joint venture with AEP to own and manage existing, and develop new electricity transmission assets in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
- Project Ibanez ($45m) – A co-investment with Meridiam Infrastructure North America Fund IV (MINA IV) to develop, construct and manage an Express Lanes road project in Atlanta Georgia. This will create 17 miles of new highway to reduce congestion on an extremely busy existing route.
- Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 4 (€136m (£119m)) – Focused on long-term European infrastructure investments across four core sectors – digital, energy, transport, logistics and industrials.
- Stonepeak Asia Infrastructure Fund II ($150m) – Targeting investments across the Asia-Pacific region, focused on digital infrastructure, energy transition, transport, logistics, and social infrastructure.
- EQT Active Core II (€140m) – Invests in essential service providers in Europe and North America, taking an active role in ownership.
Private Equity
- Hg Saturn 4 ($75m) – Focuses on scaling upper mid-market and large-cap mission-critical B2B software and services businesses in Europe and North America.
- Hg Genesis 11 (€70m) – Focuses on mid-market buyouts of mission-critical B2B software and services businesses in Europe and North America, targeting companies with enterprise values up to €2bn.
- BPEA IX ($150m) – Targets large-cap control-oriented buyout investments in high quality companies across the Asia Pacific region. The fund will invest into companies with enterprise values above $500m.
- Lexington Co-investment Partners VI ($200m) – Targets a diversified portfolio of minority co-investments in small to large-cap companies across a wide range of sectors.
- Unigestion Secondary VI (€135m) – Targets global mid-market secondary private equity transactions globally, diversified across geographies and deal types.
Private Credit
- CVC Credit Partners European Direct Lending Fund IV Co-invest (£57.5m) – Focuses on senior secured lending to private equity-sponsored mid-to-large cap businesses across Europe.
