Greater Manchester Pension Fund becomes the first pension fund in the United Kingdom to have reviewed and reported on the impact performance of its local investment portfolios.

Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) today released a report produced by The Good Economy (TGE) using the industry-endorsed reporting methodology known as the Place-Based Impact Investing (PBII) Reporting Framework. The report provides an independent assessment of the place-based impact of the GMPF’s local investment portfolios.

Councillor Gerald Cooney, Chair of GMPF, said: “At GMPF, we place importance on assessing the risk, financial return and social, economic and environmental impacts of every local investment we make. We believe this represents a responsible way to invest. By understanding what impacts are being achieved from our local investments, our aim in publishing this report is to hold ourselves accountable for the continual improvements we seek to make. We hope to encourage other investors to scale-up their local and regional investments by sharing our experience and working with others looking to contribute to sustainable economic development across the United Kingdom.”

Sarah Forster, CEO and co-Founder of The Good Economy, said: “GMPF are to be commended for their long-standing commitment to place-based investing and for leading the way in PBII reporting. We believe that this is the first time a pension fund has reported on its local investments in such an open and transparent way. By fostering the development of a common reporting approach that champions consistency, transparency and comparability, private capital markets will be able to measure impact in a meaningful way. Ultimately, we need to understand not only the financial returns of an investment but what is being invested in, where and who benefits?

The report’s findings also have a wider national audience, given the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper’s recommendation that LGPS funds should increase their allocations to local and regional projects within the UK.

View full report here

Deep Dive Case Studies

Included in the report are three ‘deep dive’ case studies that capture fund and investee-level data and narratives based on both quantitative and qualitative evidence. These case studies showcase the direct connections between GMPF’s investment decisions, the investments made by Avison Young, Foresight and Gresham House (three of GMPF’s investment managers) and the subsequent real-world benefits and outcomes for the businesses, people and sustainable development of Greater Manchester and the North West.

Independent Assurance

To increase confidence in the quality of data on which the portfolio-level analysis is based, TGE also conducted an independent assurance of the credibility and reliability of selected disclosures reported by investment managers. This was carried out in accordance with the internationally recognised AccountAbility AA1000 Assurance Standard.

PBII Reporting Framework

What is the PBII Reporting Framework?

The PBII Reporting Framework is an approach to reporting that uses a ‘place’ lens to enable asset managers and owners to report on the contribution they are making at a local, regional and national level using a common, consistent and transparent approach to reporting across asset classes. The approach was developed by The Good Economy with the support of the PBII working group comprising Local Government Pension Funds (LGPS), fund managers and the Impact Investing Institute.

The framework has been designed to report on UK investments but is readily adaptable to report in globally.

The Good Economy produces a range of PBII reports – from simple dashboards to award-winning publications.

Get in touch to discuss your requirements.