PIP and Aviva raise £131 million for solar fund

Aviva Investors and the Pensions Infrastructure Platform (PIP) have announced first close on the solar photovoltaics (PV) Fund, with £131 million (US$208 million) of commitments from four UK pension schemes.

The fund, managed by Aviva Investors, was closed on June 16th 2015 and was launched with the aim of delivering predictable, long-term, inflation-linked cash flows through investing in small-scale solar PV installations in the UK.

The fund, now looking to raise additional commitments, will have a hard cap of £250 million (US$397 million) and is expected to generate quarterly income for pension fund investors. Returns are expected to be in line with the key feature of the PIP: at Retail Price Index (RPI) +2-5%.

Matthew Graham, Aviva Investors' Business Development Director, has stated:

"We are delighted to be working with the Pensions Infrastructure Platform in providing infrastructure investments that meet UK pension scheme requirements. Since it was first announced that we were working with the PIP, this fund has attracted strong investor interest. Aviva Investors' proposition in infrastructure has been designed to respond to our clients' need for outcome-oriented solutions, offering long-term secure inflation-linked income that can provide attractive risk-adjusted returns."

Aviva Investors currently invests £247 billion (US$392 billion) on behalf of its clients across a variety of asset classes.