• UK-focused social infrastructure manager has been appointed as general partner to a new local impact fund focused on the Swansea region
• With Swansea Council as a limited partner, the £50m+ vehicle will look to deliver social infrastructure, social housing and social care
• The fund, with a ten-year life targeting 8-10% p.a. IRR net of fees, is also open to other investors interested in improving outcomes in the Swansea region

UK-focused social infrastructure investment manager Newcore Capital (‘Newcore’) has been appointed general partner to a new local impact fund, The Newcore Swansea Social Infrastructure Partnership (‘NSSIP’), launched in collaboration with Swansea Council.

NSSIP is a UK limited partnership that will deliver social infrastructure, social housing and social care, in the Swansea region. With Swansea Council – as the Administering Authority of the £3.6bn City and County of Swansea Pension Fund – as a cornerstone investor, and with Newcore co-investing alongside, the £51m fund will be focused towards delivering positive social outcomes for the region alongside strong, sustainable financial returns for its investors.

NSSIP will be managed by Newcore and target value-add and core-plus investments, including existing assets that can be refurbished as well as strategic land for development, income and planning opportunities.

The fund will have a ten-year life and will target an 8-10% p.a. IRR net of fees. Newcore has also voluntarily waived performance fees from the vehicle. While NSSIP has been designed in partnership with The City & County of Swansea Pension Fund, it is also structured to be open to other investors interested in improving outcomes in the Swansea region.

NSSIP will act as a separate entity to the other value-add and core-plus social infrastructure funds Newcore manages on behalf of its clients.

Newcore is currently investing on behalf of its fifth value-add fund, Newcore Strategic Situations V, which reached a final close at £190m in 2023, with a re-up rate of 60%.

The manager also recently launched a core-plus vehicle, The Newcore Social Infrastructure Fund (NSIIF), which reached a first close this Spring with £100m of investment capacity. NSIIF is targeting £375m in equity commitments. Investors in NSIIF include LGPS scheme East Riding Pension Fund and The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund – the MPs pension scheme.

Newcore currently manages approximately £700m across both its value-add and core-plus strategies.

Jeff Dong, Head of Finance, City and County of Swansea Pension Fund, said: “This partnership presents us with a unique opportunity to enhance and expand social infrastructure, social housing and social care provision in the Swansea City region, while generating strong and steady returns for the Swansea LGPS. After extensive due diligence of the market, we chose to partner with Newcore Capital due to its proven track record of investing successfully and conscientiously in UK social infrastructure and approach to delivering genuine positive impact and their commitment to delivering that model in the Swansea City region”

Hugo Llewelyn, CEO, Newcore Capital, said: “We are really pleased to be partnering with Swansea Council in this local impact strategy, the aim of which is to improve the quantity and quality of social infrastructure, social housing and social care in the city region, including Port Talbot and Neath. With this partnership, we hope to provide a blueprint for how private capital can be used to address the UK social infrastructure funding gap in a sustainable manner, while at the same time delivering strong, stable returns as an investment proposition. There is a clear opportunity for local government pension schemes to commit to investments in local social infrastructure, which can deliver sustainable returns while improving the scale and quality of much-needed local services through the provision of physical assets that enable them”

• UK social infrastructure specialist has sold two industrial open storage assets in Ickenham and Harefield to two corporate owner occupiers 
• Disposals have been made on behalf of Newcore Strategic Situations IV (NSS IV), the fourth fund in the manager’s value-add investment series 
• To date, NSS IV has realised £45.5m of assets (net sales receipts) with a total gross levered IRR of 21.9% (1.83x gross levered equity multiple) 

Newcore Capital (‘Newcore’), today announces the sale of two industrial open storage (IOS) assets in Greater London for a total of £22m. The disposals have been made on behalf of Newcore Strategic Situations IV (NSS IV), the fourth fund in the manager’s value-add investment series.  

One of the sales comprises a 11.45-acre asset in Ickenham, which Newcore has sold for £10m after having initially acquired the site in August 2021. At time of initial acquisition, the site represented a disused former R&D facility. Newcore subsequently pursued a planning strategy to initiate redevelopment to four new self-contained separate IOS yards and the conversion of an existing building into office space to support IOS use, with consent from the Greater London Authority granted in September 2024.  A sale was then completed to an owner-occupier industrial plant and machinery hire business.

The other disposal comprises an 8-acre asset in Harefield, which Newcore has sold for £12m after having initially acquired the site in February 2021 as an existing IOS facility. Newcore subsequently pursued a leasing strategy to drive rental income at upcoming rent reviews and a planning strategy to formalise the site’s planning position.  The firm successfully secured a 31% rental uplift, and was granted planning permission for over 10 years of IOS use in August 2024, culminating in the sale of the asset to another owner-occupier.

NSS IV, forming part of Newcore’s value-add fund series, is fully committed having reached a final close in 2019 at £100m. To date, NSS IV has realised £45.5m of assets (net sales receipts) with a total gross levered IRR of 21.9% (1.83x gross levered equity multiple). 

Hugo Llewelyn, CEO, Newcore Capital, said:

“These disposals adhere to our value-add strategy of investing in assets that can be repurposed to enable societally critical services that require the use of physical space and are thus resilient to the deflationary effects of technological change. We are now in the process of returning capital and profits to our Fund IV investors and remain well-on-track to deliver a strong risk-adjusted result, notwithstanding the seismic changes in the capital markets midway through the life of the fund.”

Harry Savory, CIO, Newcore Capital, said:

“Industrial open storage’s appeal lies in an under-supply of available sites, supporting rental growth, as suitable land is often reallocated to residential and other uses, which limits new development prospects and enhances the attractiveness of existing assets. This is especially true of the Greater London area, which is of strategic importance to businesses related to the manufacturing and construction sectors servicing clients with activities in the capital.” 

Newcore is currently investing on behalf of its fifth value-add fund, NSS V, which reached a final close at £190m in 2023, with a re-up rate of 60%.  

The manager recently launched core-plus vehicle, The Newcore Social Infrastructure Fund (NSIIF), which reached a first close this Spring with £100m of investment capacity. NSIIF is targeting £375m in equity commitments. 

Newcore currently manages approximately £700m across both its value-add and core-plus strategies. 

Newcore has achieved first close for its £375m core-plus fund, the Newcore Social Infrastructure Income Fund (‘NSIIF’ or ‘the Fund’).

The Fund has secured three notable institutions as cornerstone investors: The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund, a Local Government Pension Scheme and an insurance company client of Capricorn Private Investments, an outsourced investment office.

The first close provides NSIIF with £100m of investment capacity to deploy into the current dislocated real estate market.

The objective of the Fund is to deliver sustainable long-term income and capital returns from a functional portfolio of UK real assets enabling essential social infrastructure uses, such as education, childcare, clinical healthcare, transport, and waste management. A circa £300 million pipeline of potential acquisitions has been identified across the UK.

NSIIF seeks to generate positive social and environmental outcomes by: 

• Reducing under-utilised vacant spaces to meet the demands of social infrastructure, deploying a refurbish first approach and recognising embodied carbon.
• Creating new, fit for purpose social infrastructure provision on a de-risked financial basis, aligned with net zero ambitions.
• Maintaining and upgrading the fabric of social infrastructure buildings, where there could otherwise be negative impact from the restricted use or loss of that space.
• Acquiring existing functional buildings where there is an opportunity to work with the operator to increase the provision of social infrastructure space during the lease or at expiry.

NSIIF will target returns of 9%-11% per annum IRR, with a 4-5% annual dividend. The fund will be semi-open-ended with structured liquidity flows for primary redemption and new capital raising.

Hugo Llewelyn, Newcore Capital CEO, commented: “We are pleased to have achieved first close for NSIIF, securing three note-worthy institutions as cornerstone investors. This milestone has been achieved against the backdrop of a particularly difficult capital-raising market and demonstrates that a clear three-dimensional focus on sustainability – financial, environmental, and social – can deliver positive results for fund managers, by securing commitments from high quality investors with similar aspirations for their capital.”

Newcore has delivered strong returns since inception, achieving 9.4% p.a. IRR on all assets since inception in 2011 to December 2024, using only modest financial leverage. It currently manages £600 million in assets across both its core-plus and value-add strategies, on behalf of institutional and family office clients.

These returns have been delivered while maintaining a strong emphasis on environmental and social sustainability, reflected in its status as the highest-ranking B Corp certified real assets fund manager globally.