<article>Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the UK’s largest public-sector pension pools, has committed an aggregate of $304 million to funds managed by Ares SSG and KKR.</article>

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the UK’s largest public-sector pension pools, has committed an aggregate of $304 million to funds managed by Ares SSG and KKR.
In a statement, the pension fund said it has made a $132-million commitment to <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Ares SSG Capital Partners VI">Ares SSG Capital Partners VI</a> and another $172 million to <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=KKR ABFP">KKR ABFP</a>.
Ares SSG Capital Partners VI is a global private credit fund focused on opportunities including restructuring situations, deep value acquisitions, motivated bank sellers, and the acquisition of growth financing in Asia.
On the other hand, KKR ABFP is the buyout major&#8217;s first asset-backed finance (ABF) fund that was recently <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/kkr-asset-based-finance-fund-300432">closed at $2.1 billion</a>. According to Border to Coast, it will target investment opportunities in the US, Europe, and developed Asia, and focus on consumer/mortgage-related assets, hard assets, and the small-medium enterprise sector.
KKR said the fund will commit capital to privately originated and negotiated credit investments that are backed by large and diversified pools of financial and hard assets, with attractive risk-adjusted returns.
&#8220;Demand has been driven by global bank deleveraging, the need for fast and sophisticated credit solutions and the inability of traditional capital to provide them,&#8221; said KKR managing directors Avi Korn, Chris Mellia, and Varun Khanna, who oversee the ABF investment strategy at the firm, in a statement announcing the fund close.
The commitments to the two funds were part of the nearly $1 billion that Border to Coast made to private credit funds in April 2022. It has also committed 307 million pounds ($363 million) to infrastructure funds and 232 million to private equity funds.
With the said commitments, the UK pension fund has completed the final tranche of its 5.7-billion-pound three-year Private Markets programme, which was first launched in 2019.
The programme focused on infrastructure, private equity, and private credit, and aimed to secure cost-effective access to private markets and the potential for enhanced long-term returns on behalf of its partner funds.
“With all 5.7 billion pounds of assets committed within our first programme, we are now looking ahead to the opportunities we can pursue as part of our second programme – which included the innovative Climate Opportunities proposition – and continuing to deliver significant benefits for our partner funds,” said Mark Lyon, head of Internal Management at Border to Coast.
In January, the pension fund committed a total of $350 million to two Asia-focused funds &#8211; $140 million to Baring Private Equity Asia’s eighth buyout fund, BPEA VIII, and $210 million to Stonepeak Asia Infrastructure Fund, the maiden APAC fund by global infrastructure manager Stonepeak.

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has committed an aggregate of $304 million to Asia-focused funds managed by Ares SSG and KKR.

Border to Coast commits $304m to Ares SSG, KKR funds

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Border to Coast commits $304m to Ares SSG, KKR funds

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