A "material" number of Brunel funds are likely to join the Local Pension Partnership Investments (LPPI) pool, and the pool is thought to be in initial discussions to integrate the Brunel business.

The Devon County Council Pension Fund is the latest fund to confirm that it will join LPPI, as work to confirm its new pooling partner ahead of the 30 September deadline continues.

The fund was previously part of the  Brunel Pension Partnership, but was one of 21 funds required to find a new pool after both Access and Brunel Pensions Partnership failed to receive the green light as part of the government's Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) policy.

Final decisions, required under the government’s mandate for all LGPS funds formerly in the disbanded Access and Brunel pools to reach a formal agreement with a new pooling partner, must be made by the start of next week (30 September 2025).

At its latest meeting, the council’s Investment and Pension Fund Committee approved, in principle, the fund joining the LPPI investment pool as a shareholder and client, and authorised staff to inform the government of this decision.

LPPI chief executive officer, Chris Rule, said: "We are really pleased that Devon Pension Fund has selected LPPI as their preferred pool following a thorough due diligence process.

"This decision marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration where we will work together to achieve Devon Pension Fund’s strategic goals and bring the advantages of pooling to their members, employers, and taxpayers."

More funds from the Brunel pool may also be set to join the Devon County Council Pension Fund in the move, as the Avon Pension Fund is also seemingly set to appoint LPPI, suggesting that it will "hopefully be able to join LPPI with peer funds from Brunel".

The decision is expected to be a key focus at today's (26 September) meeting of the Avon Pension Fund Committee, where the committee will be able to vote on the recommendation to adopt LPPI as the fund's new pool partner, replacing Brunel.

Final pooling decisions will require further clarity on key areas, however, as the Avon Pension Fund noted that there will be "material one-off costs" incurred in closing down Brunel and moving the fund’s assets into the new joint pool, although these should be mitigated over time by lower ongoing costs.

It also confirmed that regulatory capital held by Brunel will partially cover such costs.

However, the fund said that these costs need to be estimated and shared as soon as practical, and certainly before the committee is required to decide to conclude a binding shareholder agreement, which the government has said must be in place by 31 March 2026.

This builds on a string of recent pooling partner announcements, as a number of LPGS funds from Access have opted for pools such as LGPS Central and Border to Coast, while former Brunel fund, Wiltshire Pension Fund, has appointed LGPS Central as its preferred pooling partner.

However, documents seen by Pensions Age suggested that "a material number of Brunel funds are likely to join LPPI", confirming that "LPPI is likely, on the basis of initial discussions, though this not guaranteed, to integrate the Brunel business".

The documents suggested that October will see work on pooling continue, with the agreement of key negotiation points amongst the seven Brunel funds. 

LPPI declined to comment on this.

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