Scale, Strategy, and Stewardship: Rachel Elwell, CEO, on Border to Coast’s Growing Power in UK Pensions
Rachel Elwell, CEO of Border to Coast, discusses why pooling assets can transform returns, building a nearly £120bn investor, active vs passive, and infrastructure investing.
As we learned from our interviews with Ontario Teachers and the Australia Future Fund, the consolidation of pension assets into sizeable pools can offer scale, access, reach, as well as much needed capital for the domestic economy.
Moreover, if executed well, it offers the potential to act with a long-term horizon as true asset owners, and to unlock investment opportunities that individual funds might struggle to access alone.
Today in the UK, one of the most consequential organisations in UK pensions, is Border to Coast. They sit at the centre of one of the most significant shifts in UK institutional investing in a generation, and as of April 2026, will oversee nearly £120bn of local authority assets.
Rachel Elwell explains their investment approach, the motivation behind the merged pools and the advantages scale offers. Specifically, she discusses insourcing versus outsourcing, passive v active, where and why, UK v global, and the role of private assets, fees, as well as why Leeds is such a great place to live and work.
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