Enfield Council's Pension Policy & Investment Committee (PPIC) is considering a £14.9 million commitment to private equity, as part of a wider review of the fund's asset allocation aimed at reaching an 8% target allocation by 2030. The rationale behind this target is to increase the fund's exposure to this asset class, which is currently underweight.

The PPIC met on Wednesday, 15th October 2025, to discuss investment strategies for the Enfield Pension Fund, including a potential investment in private equity.

Private Equity Investment

The committee is considering a $20 million (approximately £14.9 million) commitment to Adams Street Partners' 2025 fund vintage. According to the Investment in Private Equity report, the private equity asset class is underweight by 2.2%. Without further investments, the asset class is expected to have a weighting of just 2.5% against a target of 8% by 2030. This investment forms part of a well diversified portfolio for the Fund.

The report pack notes that private equity funds may target different types of companies, from mature businesses with stable cash flows to struggling companies that need restructuring, to venture and innovation companies who are at early stage (technology).

To mitigate the potential risks associated with investing in private equity, the PPIC plans to spread the Fund's investments over different vintages for diversification. The Investment in Private Equity report states: The Fund's investments in Private Equity are spread over different vintages for diversification and to mitigate risk. Different vintages can carry different risks and return profiles and it is not possible to determine in advance which vintages will outperform. Therefore, only a $20m commitment to the 2025 vintage is recommended.

The report pack stated that Adams Street Partners has historically been the fund's best performing manager over the past 5 years, returning 15% p.a. compared to the benchmark of 12%. Since inception, the manager has returned 10.8% p.a. compared to the benchmark of 8.4%.

Aon's suitability advice in Appendix B of the Investment in Private Equity report notes that: We recognise that the PPIC have built up knowledge on Adams Street, the team and its approach and have a longstanding, robust relationship with the manager. Aon also notes that they have not assigned a formal rating to this product or completed in depth due diligence on the 2025 vintage.

The report pack also noted that from April 2026, the UK Government intends that all LGPS investments should be made via their pooling partners, and for Enfield Council, this is the London CIV. It was noted that currently London CIV does not have any private equity products available and therefore this is not a viable option.

The PPIC plans to evaluate the performance of the Adams Street Partners investment, with a comprehensive evaluation of manager performance provided by the Fund's investment advisors Aon, which can be found in Appendix B of the Quarterly Investment Update.

The full agenda and reports pack for the meeting are available on the Enfield Council website.