London-based advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson has launched a euro denominated secure income fund (ESIF) which aims to help pension funds across Europe access secure income assets.
The new fund follows the success of the firm’s sterling-denominated secure income fund which has reached £1 billion (€1.16 billion) of commitments since its launch in March 2017.
The older fund, available to defined benefit pension schemes in the UK, was set up to meet institutional demand for a product offering long-term sustainable income and the ability to alleviate liability mismatch.
The new Towers Watson Euro Secure Income Fund (ESIF) is aimed at a broader European market and is available to investors in Europe and elsewhere. It will allocate its investments across Europe, principally focusing on the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, France and Spain.
Like the sterling fund, it will invest across low risk, cash generative strategies in infrastructure, real estate and real asset debt through funds, joint ventures, co-investments and secondary deals.
Duncan Hale, portfolio manager for both funds, said: “We launched our Secure Income Fund to give pension schemes access to a strategy that was cash-flow generative, allowing them to more effectively match their liabilities, but that also had sustainable investment at its core.
“After two years, we’re delighted by the interest that the fund has generated and we’re looking forward to broadening access to this approach through the launch of the Euro Secure Income Fund”.
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