The latest episode of the IJGlobal Podcast explores with Octopus Investments how local government pension schemes are investing in social infrastructure. 

Real assets are increasingly on the agenda for UK local government pension schemes, as they offer stable returns, with social infrastructure a rising investment focus in this bucket due to impact it has on the local community and members of the scheme.

In this podcast – which runs for 20 minutes – Lisa Botter, editor of IJInvestor (a service of IJGlobal, now a Green Street Company) speaks with Jack Burnham, head of affordable housing at Octopus Investments.

The podcast can also be found on Apple and Amazon. It is open access on all sites that host it.

In a survey of 27 LGPS, Octopus Investments and its research partner found that schemes were familiar with and are investing in a range of social infrastructure themes, but investment returns outweigh impact.

Despite the interest from schemes it is up to social infrastructure managers to prove their social and climate credentials to prevent greenwashing and so-called, social washing.

Burnham (pictured right) said LGPS are familiar with social infrastructure. The pension schemes are associated with their local authorities which are often the largest owners of social infrastructure –  for example affordable housing, education and healthcare assets – so the subject areas are often something they know a great deal about. He added that they are often the ones that see the impact of an under investment in social infrastructure.

Burnham also told listeners about how the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund is working with a developer on a product called “Zero Bills”, in which their sister-company Octopus Energy provides renewable energy and electrically-powered heating to a property as well as battery storage, offering the occupants of the homes no energy bills for the first 10 years of occupancy.

The fund, aside from its LGPS LPs, has seen interest in endowments and international investors as the UK’s affordable housing sector is mature and well regulated.

The fund closed in 2023 with an initial £60 million investment and an additional £150 million raised in July.

Tune into this latest episode for insights into the fund's plans for the future, and much more.