Bromley Council's Pensions Committee is evaluating a proposal for the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund (BPF) to integrate into the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) pool. The committee convened on Tuesday 2 December 2025, to deliberate on the potential advantages, risks, and broader implications of this expansion, which could increase the pool's assets by an estimated 10%.
The Business Case to Join LCIV outlines a timeline for the potential integration:
- Existing Partner Funds to give an indication of initial support or not by 24th September.
- London CIV to discuss the approach in principle with government on 26th September
- Formal governance process to proceed with Board and Shareholders, expectation is that this will take up to 3 months to obtain all required approvals.
- The migration of the BPF occurs post April 2026.
According to the Business Case to Join LCIV, Buckinghamshire Pension Fund expects to gain enhanced governance and regulatory compliance by joining London CIV because London CIV meets the government's minimum standards on governance and compliance and has all permissions in place to not just implement investment strategy but, to also provide strategic asset allocation advice and the potential adoption of LGPS PASS.
The business case presented to the committee highlighted several reasons for Buckinghamshire's interest in joining the London CIV, including access to the London CIV Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS), enhanced governance and regulatory compliance, and a broad range of investment solutions.
The Public reports pack noted that BPF's stated reasons for wanting to join London CIV included:
- Access to London CIV Authorised Contractual Scheme (ACS)
- Enhanced Governance and Regulatory Compliance
- Broad solutions and investment approach
The addition of Buckinghamshire Pension Fund's assets to London CIV would create an estimated 10% growth in assets pooled. Based on the current split of assets in the BPF, London CIV expects additional revenues of approximately £1.5m annually. This will generate growth in operating profits and support the investment required to deliver the activities mandated by government. Added scale also benefits all existing pool members in strengthening fee negotiating power with asset managers and making new fund launches more viable. The growth in assets can be accommodated by our third-party administrators and will also help to drive down costs for our funds.
According to the Business Case to Join LCIV, London CIV's ACS is an FCA authorised investment fund and is run as an FCA regulated operator. As the Operator, London CIV is a limited liability company with each participating London local authority being a shareholder. This is a key feature for BPF joining; Brunel rents its ACS, whereas the London CIV has built its ACS. This has key benefits such as LGPS Funds remain UK domiciled, tax efficient and have increased transparency.
However, the Business Case to Join LCIV also identifies potential risks:
- Government view: The BPF proceeding with joining London CIV is subject to government approval.
- Future proofing: If the London CIV has not grown over the next 'x' number of years, interested parties could use this as a way of a potential 'take over' thereby reducing the control London LGPS Funds currently have.
- Potential dilution of London-specific focus: Adding a non-London fund like the BPF could potentially be seen as prioritising broader southeast interests over pure London ones.
The committee is also considering the government's intention to transfer the implementation of the strategic asset allocation to investment pools such as the LCIV, as detailed in the Strategic Asset Allocation report. This would shift responsibility for tactical asset allocation and fund manager selection from individual pension funds to the pools.
