Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, announces it has launched its third fund under the Long Term Asset Fund (LTAF) regime with the creation of the Aviva Investors Multi-Sector Private Debt LTAF (‘MSPD LTAF’, ‘the Fund’).
The new fund has received an initial £750 million of investment capital from Aviva’s flagship My Future Focus default pensions solution, which invests in a broad range of asset classes on behalf of the firm’s range of auto-enrolment Defined Contribution (‘DC’) default strategies.
Also open for allocations from external investors, Aviva Investors expects MSPD LTAF to be particularly appealing to DC pension funds looking to diversify returns from traditional asset classes such as public equity and fixed income, as well as wider Private Markets allocations and single private debt strategies. With 64 per cent of institutional investors in the 2024 edition of its ‘Real Assets Study’ citing diversification as a primary reason for allocating to real assets, the Fund aims to produce a diversified portfolio of investments from across the private debt spectrum and a range of sectors, including opportunities in Real Estate Debt, Infrastructure Debt, Structured Finance and Private Corporate Debt.
The launch furthers Aviva Investors’ ambition to be the go-to LTAF provider for the DC pension fund and wealth markets in the UK. Including commitments to the MSPD LTAF, its LTAF range now represents just over £3 billion[1] across a variety of Private Markets asset classes, with the Multi-Sector Private Debt LTAF following the launch of its Real Estate Active LTAF (‘REALTAF’) in May 2023 and conversion of its Climate Transition Real Asset Fund (‘CTRAF’) to sit under the new regime in March this year. It also follows Aviva Investors announcing the addition of a dedicated Venture and Strategic Capital capability in September, to sit within its newly-rebranded Private Markets function.
Daniel McHugh, Chief Investment Officer at Aviva Investors, commented:
“We are pleased to add a dedicated private debt solution to our suite of Long Term Asset Funds, further positioning Aviva Investors as the largest provider of LTAFs for the UK DC and Wealth market. Private Debt is a key growth area for us, and we believe our multi-sector approach will best-capture relative value through the market cycle. This should give it potential to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns and diversification to pension schemes, whilst also meeting their liquidity needs.”
Maiyuresh Rajah, Director of Investments for Wealth & Advice, at Aviva, said:
“We are the UK’s largest workplace pension provider and our defined contribution default solutions help customers prepare for retirement by investing in a diversified range of asset classes, including private markets. We are continuing to further diversify our solutions and this investment in private debt is another important step in that process. By supporting the Aviva Investors Multi-Sector Private Debt LTAF, we believe we can continue to help our customers achieve good outcomes in retirement while supporting economic growth by providing funding to companies which often have more bespoke financing requirements.”
Jill Barber, Chief Distribution Officer at Aviva Investors, added:
“The launch of our Private Debt fund continues our ambition to be the go-to LTAF provider for the UK’s DC and Wealth markets, as we create a suite of funds which gives access to a range of asset classes and risk-return profiles. With more retirement savings represented by DC pension funds which have specific liquidity needs, the emergence of the LTAF regime makes it easier for these investors to allocate more to Private Markets. We are therefore delighted our private debt LTAF will be offered as part of Aviva’s default solutions and be available to the wider market.”
