Ex-Berkshire Pension Fund Chief Dies

Nick Greenwood, the former head of the UK’s Berkshire Pension Fund died earlier this month, according to IPE.com.

The pensions manager left the £2 billion ($2.5 billion) fund last year after 11 years with the organization. The Berkshire plan also got out of the local government pensions scheme (LGPS) system around the same time, becoming part of the Local Pensions Partnership, a government pensions services provider launched in 2016.

Greenwood became chair of Osmosis Investment Management’s investment committee shortly after his exit.

“We were all deeply saddened to hear that Nick had passed away,” Osmosis Chief Executive Officer Ben Dear told Financial News London. “Nick was a man of tremendous knowledge, big ideas, and he always brought positivity and a sense of humor with him to the office.”

Greenwood accomplished several innovations for the fund during his tenure, one of which was the implementation of Berkshire’s alternative asset allocations. The innovation saw the fund add farmland and emerging market infrastructure, among other classes to its investment portfolio. Under his watch, the plan became the first in the LGPS to hedge its longevity risk when it performed a swap with Swiss Re which covered 11,000 members.

“He actively sought out exposure to technology, food and water investments, and high growth emerging markets,” Aoifinn Deavitt, an independent adviser to the Berkshire fund, told the publication. “Closer to home, he pursued investments in British innovation, from venture capital in University-backed technology enterprises, to residential and commercial real estate that would revitalize the local economy.”

Greenwood was in his early 60s.

 
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