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West Sussex County Council
West Sussex Pension Fund operates as the administering authority for the defined-benefit Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) serving employees of the county...
West Sussex County Council
West Sussex Pension Fund operates as the administering authority for the defined-benefit Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) serving employees of the county council and scheduled bodies. Rachel Wood leads the pensions function, with oversight from the Pensions Committee chaired by Jeremy Hunt — not the former Chancellor, but a long-serving county councillor. The fund dates its LGPS obligations to the scheme's national framework, providing inflation-linked retirement income to active, deferred, and retired members. Its governance includes union representation (Dan Sartin, UNISON) and a dedicated governance manager in Vickie Hampshire. The investment portfolio is managed entirely through the ACCESS pool, a collaboration of 11 LGPS funds across Central, Eastern, and Southern Shires that pools roughly £35B in total assets. This structure allows West Sussex to access private markets at scale. The fund's asset-class exposure spans buyout, distressed debt, mezzanine, secondaries, and infrastructure — all accessed through fund commitments, co-investments, and pooled vehicles arranged by ACCESS. Direct property holdings include a UK commercial portfolio and the Grosvenor Street office development in London. The fund is a signatory to the UK Stewardship Code (2020) and the Principles for Responsible Investment, reflecting the LGPS-wide push on ESG integration. The fund is currently navigating a government-mandated consolidation of LGPS pools. It is a shareholder in the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of several pools selected to absorb smaller collaboration groups under the Mansion House reforms. This transition, expected to complete by 2028, will see West Sussex's assets migrate from the ACCESS pool to Border to Coast's larger platform — a process that will reshape mandate structures, manager relationships, and the fund's governance obligations over the next three years. What distinguishes West Sussex structurally is its position at the intersection of a legacy collaboration pool and a mandated successor pool. The ACCESS pool was never a full FCA-regulated operator — it relied on underlying authorities for regulatory cover — while Border to Coast is a fully authorized investment company. This transition forces LGPS funds like West Sussex to navigate a shift from informal cooperation to formal fiduciary delegation, making the fund's current posture unusually transitional even by UK public-pension standards.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
—
AUM
$5B–$10B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
Chichester
Corporate office
Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Principals
Rachel Wood
Head of Pensions
Jeremy Hunt
Chairman of the Pensions Committee
Vickie Hampshire
Pension Fund Governance Manager
Dan Sartin
Member representative on the Pensions Committee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at West Sussex Pension Fund?
Investment management is delegated to the ACCESS LGPS pool, a collaboration of 11 local authority funds. Rachel Wood, as Head of Pensions, oversees the relationship and governance framework. The Pensions Committee, chaired by Jeremy Hunt, retains ultimate fiduciary responsibility and sets the strategic asset allocation.
Is West Sussex Pension Fund a direct investor or does it use pooled vehicles?
The fund accesses all private markets through the ACCESS pool, which aggregates commitments and selects managers on behalf of member funds. Direct holdings exist only in its legacy UK commercial property portfolio and a specific London office development. All private equity, infrastructure, and credit exposure comes through pooled funds or ACCESS-arranged co-investment vehicles.
How is West Sussex Pension Fund related to the Border to Coast Pensions Partnership?
West Sussex is a shareholder in Border to Coast and has been directed by the UK government to consolidate its assets into that pool by 2028. The current ACCESS pool — an informal collaboration without full FCA authorization — will be wound down as participating funds migrate. This makes West Sussex a transitional pool participant with a defined off-ramp.
What asset classes does the fund invest in?
Through the ACCESS pool, the fund has exposure to private equity (buyout, growth, secondaries), private credit (direct lending, distressed debt, mezzanine), infrastructure, and real estate. The fund also holds legacy direct property assets in the UK, including a commercial portfolio and a Grosvenor Street office development in London.
What is the ACCESS LGPS pool and how does it operate?
ACCESS (A Collaboration of Central, Eastern and Southern Shires) is a procurement-based pooling arrangement among 11 LGPS funds with combined assets of approximately £35B. Unlike fully authorized pools such as Border to Coast, ACCESS does not hold FCA authorization itself — individual administering authorities remain the regulated entities. The government has directed ACCESS funds to consolidate into larger, authorized operators.
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.
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