Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund

Declan Keegan serves as Director of Corporate Resources and Section 151 Officer for Leicestershire County Council, a statutory role under UK law that carries responsibility for the proper administration of the council's financial affairs, including the pension fund. The fund itself is administered by the county council under the regulations of the UK Local Government Pension Scheme, with oversight from a local pension board and the council's elected members.

Leicestershire is one of eight equal shareholder councils in LGPS Central Ltd, the asset pooling company established under UK government reforms that began in 2015 and became operational in 2018. The pool handles manager selection, due diligence, and portfolio management across multiple asset classes, but Leicestershire retains ultimate fiduciary responsibility for its own scheme members and can set its own strategic asset allocation.

The fund combines both approaches. It maintains a direct UK commercial property portfolio and a direct farmland investment in Leicestershire. For global exposure — particularly in timberland and carbon offsets — it invests through third-party fund structures such as those managed by Stafford International.

Secondaries feature prominently in the fund's strategy. Its transaction history indicates repeated purchases of LP interests and portfolios on the secondary market, a posture that can help the fund manage vintage-year diversification, adjust pacing, or acquire seasoned assets at discounts to net asset value. This activity sits alongside primary commitments to private equity and infrastructure funds.

Leicestershire participates in the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), which coordinates collaborative engagement with portfolio companies on governance, climate risk, and social issues. Its investment through LGPS Central also means that pooled manager mandates are subject to the pool's responsible investment policy, which integrates ESG factors into fund selection and ongoing monitoring.

The fund does not publish a regularly updated single AUM figure through a centralized website. Mandatory UK pension fund valuations appear periodically through council committee reports and the fund's annual report, which are available via the Leicestershire County Council website, but a current self-reported number was not identified in available primary sources.

The fund operates as a multi-employer scheme within the LGPS framework. It serves Leicestershire County Council employees and also extends to other local public-sector employers, including district councils and educational institutions, that are designated bodies under the scheme rules.