Updated:
Norfolk County Council
The Norfolk Pension Fund traces its origins to the creation of Norfolk County Council in 1889, evolving over 130 years from a local-government...
Norfolk County Council
The Norfolk Pension Fund traces its origins to the creation of Norfolk County Council in 1889, evolving over 130 years from a local-government pay-as-you-go arrangement into a funded defined-benefit scheme serving public-sector workers across the county. The fund is administered by Norfolk County Council's finance team under the oversight of an elected pension committee, with day-to-day investment decisions delegated to officers including Assistant Director of Finance Peter Glazebrook. Its beneficiaries include teachers, administrative staff, care workers, and maintenance crews employed by schools, the county council, and affiliated public bodies. Asset allocation follows a traditional LGPS blueprint with meaningful private-markets exposure. Equities — both UK and global — form the largest sleeve, supplemented by multi-asset credit, private debt, and hedge fund strategies accessed largely through pooled vehicles. The fund commits to infrastructure and private equity through the ACCESS Pool, a collaboration of eleven local-authority pension funds that jointly procures managers and negotiates fees. Directly held assets include the Norfolk County Farms Estate, a portfolio of let agricultural land, as well as residential developments at Saxon Heath (Attleborough), St Edmund's Park (Acle), Bowlers Green (Hopton-on-Sea), and Burton Cove (Caister-on-Sea). A smaller allocation to timberland is held via Stafford Timberland Funds. As of mid-2025, the fund participates actively in the ACCESS Pool — one of eight national LGPS pools — which recently moved to a formal FCA-authorised operator structure. The fund employs approximately four investment professionals, with additional support from the council's treasury and legal teams. It engages on stewardship through membership in the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which advocates for corporate-governance reform and climate-risk disclosure across UK-listed holdings. The fund also holds the Norfolk Museums Service Collection at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, a cultural asset unique among UK pension schemes. The fund's structural differentiator lies in its hybrid model: a pooled-AUM arrangement that accesses institutional pricing through ACCESS without ceding fiduciary control to a centralised board. Unlike the London CIV or Border to Coast, where decisions migrate to a third-party operator, Norfolk retains its own committee and officer-level discretion over asset-allocation tilts and direct-property management — a governance trade-off that prioritises democratic accountability over pure operational efficiency.
General information
Firm type
Local Government Pension Scheme
Year founded
1889
AUM
£2.5B–£4.0B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
Norwich
Corporate office
Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Principals
Tom McCabe
Chair of Pension Fund Committee
Peter Glazebrook
Assistant Director of Finance (Pensions & Treasury)
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Norfolk Pension Fund?
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.
How is the Norfolk Pension Fund related to the ACCESS Pool?
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.
Does the Norfolk Pension Fund run a direct property portfolio?
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.
Which sectors does the Norfolk Pension Fund explicitly avoid?
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.
What is the Norfolk Pension Fund's posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
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.
How does the Norfolk County Farms Estate fit into the pension fund's portfolio?
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.
Does the Norfolk Pension Fund maintain any philanthropic or community structures?
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.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
Need institutional-grade insight on pension funds?
Altss delivers:
Prefer a guided tour?
We’ll walk you through: