Buckinghamshire Pension Fund Seeks to Join London CIV Pool

Bexley Council's Pensions Committee has considered a proposal for the Buckinghamshire County Council Pension Fund (BPF) to join the London CIV pool. This move is driven by the upcoming UK Pension Schemes Bill 2025, which mandates that all Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds transfer their assets to their chosen asset pools by 31 March 2026, and the fund's desire for increased scale and improved finances.

The committee met on 9 December 2025, to discuss the London CIV's business case to admit the Buckinghamshire County Council Pension Fund into the pool, in light of the UK Pension Schemes Bill 2025. According to the Public reports pack, the government will shortly be passing the UK Pension Schemes Bill 2025 which will require all LGPS funds to transfer their assets to their chosen asset pools by 31 March 2026. Buckinghamshire County Council Pension Fund formally approached the London CIV to join as its preferred pool.

The report noted that the total value of the Buckinghamshire Pension Fund investments as of March 2024 was £4.1 billion, consisting of 8,601 members. It's important to note that the pension fund is already a keen advocate of pooling, having committed 98% of its assets with Brunel.

The London CIV sees benefits in terms of increased scale, improved finances, geographic proximity, and alignment of investment approach, all of which will strengthen the pool for existing partner funds.

The committee was asked to approve the admission of Buckinghamshire Pension Fund to the London CIV as a shareholder and delegate further operational decision making to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services.

If there is unanimous shareholder approval for the BPF to join London CIV, it is proposed that it would be on the following terms:

• Admission would be as an equal shareholder with same voting rights as the existing partners and without detriment to any existing partners' investment value.
• The London CIV's immediate focus would remain prioritised on meeting the government's pooling obligations for existing London council shareholders. The potential migration of the BPF would occur after the passing of the UK Pension Schemes Bill. All of BPF's holdings that can migrate to LCIV would take place after the admission, with only legacy holdings in private markets being wrapped in an IMA between the fund and the pool.