The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved Legal & General’s first private markets long-term asset fund (LTAF). The regulator decided last week that L&G’s vehicle is suitable for defined-contribution (DC) pension funds, as per the FCA’s fund register.
The multi-asset fund will launch this summer and it will be able to invest in public and private markets, including less liquid industries such as infrastructure, real estate and private credit.
Jesal Mistry, head of DC investments at Legal & General called this “a significant milestone” which will provide over 5 million DC members with the opportunity to access illiquid investment opportunities.
“As the largest DC pension provider in the UK market, we have a real opportunity to use our scale and expertise to facilitate increased member access to private market,” he said.
“We designed a solution which meets the operational and liquidity needs of DC schemes, while providing additional return drivers and diversification benefits with the potential to further increase value for members.”
Further details on the strategy will be announced in due course.
The LTAF structure is designed to protect investors from liquidity issues and emergency exits, as they will be able to buy into or sell out of the fund at longer intervals than traditional open-ended funds, which deal daily.
L&G joins the list of providers with approved LTAF solutions so far, which includes Schroders, Aviva Investors, and BlackRock, among others.
Access to LTAF has also been approved for retail investors, with Nikhil Rathi, chief executive officer of the FCA, saying in March that the three umbrella funds and five sub funds currently authorised will be followed by “a strong pipeline and more expected shortly”, with the target assets under management after three years for LTAFs authorised to date nearly £6bn.