Norfolk County Council

The Pension Fund Committee, chaired by Tom McCabe, sets the strategic asset allocation and appoints investment managers. Day-to-day oversight falls to Assistant Director of Finance Peter Glazebrook and the county council's treasury team. The fund delegates manager selection for certain asset classes to the ACCESS Pool, while retaining direct control over its property portfolio and overall allocation tilts.

Norfolk is one of eleven Local Government Pension Scheme funds that collaborate through ACCESS, a national LGPS pool that aggregates assets to reduce costs and improve manager access. Following FCA authorisation in 2024, ACCESS now operates as a regulated investment vehicle. Norfolk retains its own pension committee and discretion over strategic allocation, but ACCESS handles manager procurement and oversight for several mandates, including infrastructure and private equity.

Yes. Unlike many LGPS funds that outsource real estate entirely, Norfolk directly holds the County Farms Estate — agricultural land let to tenant farmers — plus four residential developments built on council land. It also holds the Norfolk Museums Service Collection, a cultural asset classified as part of the fund's non-financial portfolio.

The fund aligns with the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum's engagement principles but does not publish a formal exclusion list. Through LAPFF membership and council-level climate commitments, it has signaled reduced tolerance for thermal coal and unconvincing transition plans, though its legacy passive equity exposure means exclusions are applied selectively rather than via a blanket screen.

The fund does not actively pursue direct co-investments outside its real-asset holdings. Private equity, infrastructure, and private credit exposure is accessed almost entirely through pooled vehicles arranged via ACCESS. Direct-property investments are managed in-house or through local development agreements rather than LP co-investment structures.

The County Farms Estate is a legacy municipal asset that migrated into the pension fund as part of the council's long-term asset-liability matching. It provides a modest but inflation-linked income stream from agricultural rents and carries development optionality on parcels near growing Norfolk towns. This direct-land exposure is unusual among UK pension funds and reflects the fund's local-government origins.

The fund itself has no charitable arm. However, its stewardship activities through LAPFF — including corporate-governance engagement and climate-risk oversight — apply across public- and private-market holdings. The Norfolk Museums Service Collection held by the fund serves a public-education purpose through its display at Norwich Castle Museum, though this is a custodial arrangement rather than a grant-making vehicle.