UK pension funds seeking long-term income from renewable power assets have helped BlackRock secure an additional £475 million (€537 million) of investments for a specialist fund, the firm said.
BlackRock’s real assets business said it raised the money as part of a third re-opening of the Renewable Income UK fund, which has reached over £1.1 billion of investments and is now the largest UK renewable power fund, according to the firm.
The fund has already invested over £600 million in 40 UK wind and solar projects.
BlackRock said existing clients represented 70% of the capital raising.
According to BlackRock’s ‘2017 Global Rebalancing Survey’ which surveyed 240 of its largest institutional clients in November last year, 63% intended to increase exposure to real assets in pursuit of returns in a low-return environment.
Many are turning to infrastructure and renewable energy assets to meet long-dated liabilities, the firm said, adding that renewable power was one of the most active sectors for deal flow in the infrastructure asset class.
Rory O’Connor, head of European renewables investment and manager of the fund, said the successful fundraising demonstrated the attraction of the fund’s “stable and inflation-linked income profile” in the current market environment.
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