Wales Pension Partnership, a pension pool for Welsh local government pension schemes, has re-appointed the service provider Waystone to operate a collective vehicle.
Link Fund Solutions originally won a contract in 2018 to run a pooled investment vehicle for the Welsh funds. Link became embroiled in the Woodford fund saga, where Link acted as authorised corporate director (ACD).
Waystone Group bought the UK and Irish businesses of Link Fund Solutions in 2023 and will hold the current contract as operator of an authorised contractual scheme (ACS) until at least the next five-yearly review. Waystone is now the largest ACD in the UK.
The ACS has ten sub-funds across equities and fixed income and is operated with the support of Russell Investments, which was originally appointed with Link.
Wales Pension Partnership pools the assets of eight Welsh pension funds which collectively invest £13 billion.
Chris Moore director of corporate services at Carmarthenshire County Council, said: “As the host authority for WPP [Wales Pension Partnership] we are delighted that Waystone was successful again and look forward to continue working with the team.”
Karl Midl, country head, UK, at Waystone, said: “We are delighted to have been reappointed to act as operator to the ACS for the benefit of the WPP’s investment pool. Our continued partnership is testament to the exceptional service our team has provided over the last six and a half years and we look forward to continuing to support the WPP’s needs as they too continue to evolve and grow.”
Rachel Wheeler, global product head of regulated fund solutions, said: “We have a long and successful history of collaboration with the WPP and we’re excited to explore new opportunities for expanding our partnership in the years to come.”
