Podcast Episode 21: Building Scale, Stewardship and Long-Term Thinking in Pension Investing

In this episode, SBAI’s Brian Digney is joined by Richard Tomlinson, Chief Investment Officer of Local Pensions Partnership Investments (LPPI), to discuss what it takes to build a modern institutional investment organisation in an increasingly complex global environment.

Richard reflects on the creation and evolution of LPPI as part of the UK’s local government pension pooling initiative, sharing lessons from scaling an investment platform from the ground up while maintaining strong governance and fiduciary discipline. He discusses the balance between internal capability and external partnerships, the role of consultants, and why a clear sense of purpose and stakeholder alignment is critical when managing public capital.

The conversation also explores how long-term asset allocation is evolving in response to structural shifts in inflation, interest rates and geopolitics. Richard outlines LPPI’s approach to diversification, real assets and sovereign risk, as well as the challenges facing traditional portfolio assumptions such as the 60/40 model. He offers a measured perspective on themes including AI, US exceptionalism, domestic infrastructure investment and the future role of currencies in institutional portfolios.

The episode concludes with a wide-ranging discussion on organisational culture, hybrid working, talent development and the cautious but pragmatic use of AI within an investment organisation.

Key takeaways include:

• Building institutional scale is an incremental process grounded in governance, clarity of mandate and long-term alignment with stakeholders.

• Internalisation should be driven by genuine comparative advantage rather than size alone, with strategic partnerships playing a central role.

• Traditional diversification assumptions are under pressure as inflation, interest rates and correlations shift.

• Real assets can play a meaningful role in protecting long-term purchasing power in a higher-inflation world.

• While technologies such as AI and digital assets are likely to reshape markets, humility and caution remain essential when assessing long-term outcomes.

Whether you are an asset owner navigating governance reform or an investment professional thinking about long-term portfolio resilience, this episode offers a thoughtful and practical perspective on stewardship, scale and decision-making in public pension investing.

About the SBAI:

We are an active alliance of asset managers and allocators dedicated to responsible practice, partnership, and knowledge. We do this by setting Standards, providing industry guidance, and facilitating collaboration and exchange of ideas through our community of over 250 institutional investors and asset manager signatories responsible for approximately US$ 11 trillion in assets.

For more information, visit https://www.sbai.org/

For more information visit https://www.sbai.org/