Scottish Widows has been granted Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval to launch its long term asset fund (LTAF).
Scottish Widows shared plans to launch an open-architecture LTAF back in April and this week said it had received regulatory approval.
The UK pension provider confirmed it is on track to launch the fund later this year, making the strategy available to its four million workplace pension customers.
Three funds have been approved, an umbrella fund, a growth fund and a diversified credit fund. Carne Group was selected as the alternative investment fund manager, Aberdeen will manage the growth sub-fund and BNP Paribas Asset Management the credit sub-fund.
LTAFs are a new investment structure designed to provide easier, simpler access for defined contribution investors to long-term private markets investments.
Scottish Widows has previously said that key features of an open-architecture LTAF include access to a spectrum of private market investments, leveraging all implementation routes from global general partners through primary or secondaries, co-investment opportunities and direct sourcing, it added.
Kevin Doran, chief investment officer of Scottish Widows, said: “We’ve designed our investment approach to better shape how and where we invest through our LTAF as well as tapping into opportunities across Lloyds Banking Group.
“This will help more of our members’ money go straight into private assets that can really help our customers achieve good outcomes in retirement as part of a modern portfolio structure.”.”
Doran said that Scottish Widows has designed its investment approach to better shape where and how it invests through LTAF as well as tapping into opportunities across Lloyds Banking Group.
Jeremy Soutter, managing director at Carne Group, said it took less than 11 weeks from FCA application to approval, demonstrating “efficiency and speed to market that can be achieved by genuine partnership and collaboration that leverages multi-dimensional expertise”.
LTAFs aim to facilitate cost-efficient exposure to private asset classes such as private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate in an investment vehicle that provides certain advantages over previously available options.
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