Legal & General Investment Management has launched two new strategies offering professional UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes a range of options for investing in US asset-backed securities (ABS).

The proposition is also available to all UK institutional investors and expected to be offered to international investors in due course. The L&G US Securitised Fund and the L&G US Securitised Plus Fund are actively managed portfolios investing across US investment grade securitised credit opportunities. These strategies look to offer a broad pool of liquidity with varied return drivers, whilst remaining diversified across several asset types. Announcing the launch, LGIM emphasised that the large US securitised market boasts higher traded volumes and a more diverse investor base than its UK and European counterparts.

West Yorkshire Pension Fund has invested in Rebalance Earth.

Thought to be the UK's first boutique fund manager entirely focused on nature as an investable asset class, Rebalance Earth finances nature as infrastructure, which provides climate adaptation and resilience for companies, communities and cities across the UK. The “catalytic” investment in Rebalance Earth is expected to help provide the capital required to demonstrate the powerful impacts of investing in nature as business-critical infrastructure.

Age UK and The BlackRock Foundation have launched a £1m partnership to help older people during the cost-of-living crisis.

The partnership will fund a two-year benefits entitlement checks programme that is expected to help identify £8m in unclaimed benefits for older people living in areas with high levels of deprivation. In alignment with The Blackrock Foundation’s mission to strengthen the economic security of financially vulnerable people and communities, the programme will support the delivery of benefit checks to 4,000 older people across the UK via Age Scotland, Age NI, and local Age UKs including Sheffield, East London, Norwich, and Age Cymru Gwent. The partnership will see Age UK and The BlackRock Foundation try to find new ways of identifying older households who are entitled to, but not in receipt of, Pension Credit, and to inform policymakers on the more effective approach to this issue.

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