Aviva Investors has announced the launch of a carbon removal fund.

The fund aims to provide institutional investors - including corporates, pension funds, insurers, and local government pension schemes - with access to carbon removal solutions. According to Aviva, the carbon-based solutions will deliver investment returns and support the company's long-term net-zero ambitions. The fund will invest directly in nature-based and engineered carbon removal solutions that can provide high-integrity carbon removal credits as part of a blended portfolio. It has been seeded with an initial commitment from Aviva's investment, wealth and retirement business.

Ten companies in the annuities market have signed up for Origo's recently launched annuity transfer tracking service.

The companies are Canada Life, Just Group, Legal & General, Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Age Partnership, Hub FS, My Pension Expert, Pension Potential, and Retirement Line. Origo's annuity transfer tracking uses real-time data from the transfer service between pension providers and annuity providers, enabling advice firms to see the progress of their clients' switches by integrating with their back-office/CRM. According to Origo, this avoids the need for follow-up calls to providers and can significantly and immediately impact time and resource cost savings for both provider and advice firm back-office staff. Origo CEO, Anthony Rafferty, said annuities have become "more attractive" to advisers in recent years, following the rise in interest rates, which has driven up demand. "This has highlighted the clear need for advisers to have greater visibility of the transfers being made, to provide the quality of service their clients now expect," he said.

Gresham House and Thriving Investments have formed a UK affordable housing partnership.

The partnership will manage Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP, an institutionally backed shared ownership strategy, combining Thriving Investments’ origination, execution and development capabilities with Gresham House’s fund management and capital-raising. It is intended to create a shared ownership platform of scale, with the combined resources and complementary skills of both companies enabling the best possible outcomes for investors and residents, whilst providing a pipeline for growth.

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