# Knight Frank Staff Pension Fund

Knight Frank Staff Pension Fund is a Pension Fund based in Bath, United Kingdom.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Bath, United Kingdom
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** Bath, United Kingdom
- **Founded:** 1896
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** knightfrank.co.uk
- **LinkedIn:** https://uk.linkedin.com/company/knight-frank

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Knight Frank Staff Pension Fund operates as the defined-benefit pension scheme for employees of Knight Frank LLP, the global real estate consultancy headquartered in London. Trustee oversight rests with Knight Frank Pension Trustees Limited, a corporate trustee whose board includes Senior Partner William Beardmore-Gray and Group Chief People Officer Karen Bowes. The Fund's primary obligation is securing member benefits; its governance documents delegate investment authority to external managers under a liability-driven framework. Asset allocation reflects a mature pension scheme de-risking its balance sheet. The Fund holds a bulk-purchase annuity buy-in policy with Standard Life, covering a material portion of its liabilities. Its growth-seeking capital is deployed through commingled institutional vehicles: J.P. Morgan Infrastructure Investments Fund provides direct infrastructure exposure globally, while Insight Investment manages a bond mandate spanning gilts and corporate credit maturing between 2031 and 2035. An LDI sterling liquidity holding fund supports the scheme's hedging program. The Fund has no permanent in-house investment team. Investment decisions and stewardship activities — including proxy voting and engagement — are executed by the Fund's appointed managers, who participate in the UK Stewardship Code 2020 and report under the Principles for Responsible Investment framework. Knight Frank LLP serves as sponsoring employer, making deficit-recovery contributions as required under UK Pensions Regulator valuations. The Fund does not publish an annual report independently of Knight Frank's broader financial disclosures. Its governance architecture separates corporate-insider influence from fiduciary duty through a professional trustee company, while its investment strategy prioritizes liability matching and income generation over capital accumulation — a posture distinct from the equity-heavy endowments and family offices it might appear alongside in asset-owner directories.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Infrastructure
- Private Credit

## People

- William Christopher Beardmore-Gray — Trustee Director
- Karen Bowes — Trustee Director
- Richard James Claxton — Trustee Director

## Questions

### Who is responsible for the Fund's investment decisions?

Knight Frank Pension Trustees Limited, the corporate trustee, holds fiduciary responsibility. The trustee board delegates day-to-day investment management to external firms — Standard Life for the bulk annuity, Insight Investment for the bond mandate, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management for infrastructure — while retaining governance and monitoring oversight.

### How does the Fund's relationship with Knight Frank LLP influence its investment strategy?

Knight Frank LLP is the sponsoring employer, obligated to fund deficits under UK regulation. The trustee board includes Knight Frank executives, but investment discretion sits with external managers. This structure separates the sponsor's corporate interest from asset-allocation decisions, a standard governance feature of UK occupational pension schemes.

### Does the Fund make direct real estate investments given its connection to Knight Frank?

There is no public evidence the Fund invests directly in property. Its real-asset exposure runs through J.P. Morgan Infrastructure Investments Fund, a third-party commingled vehicle. The connection to Knight Frank, a real estate advisory firm, is through the sponsoring employer relationship, not investment sourcing.

### What ESG or stewardship obligations does the Fund follow?

The Fund's appointed investment managers are signatories to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and the UK Stewardship Code 2020. Stewardship activities, including voting and engagement, are exercised by those managers on the Fund's behalf, not by the trustee board directly.

## Related profiles

- [Knight Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/knight-foundation)
- [Knight Therapeutics](https://altss.com/profile/knight-therapeutics)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

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