UPN-00618 - Future Places Fund

Executive Summary & Background:

The Investment Team is advancing the development of the £500m Future Places Fund (FPF). The fund is evolving its core strategy to operate as a regional impact investment platform specifically targeting stalled, "oven-ready" housing and commercial schemes across the region.

Unlike traditional public sector funding architectures, the FPF will move away from grant reliance. Instead, it will deploy a revolving, largely repayable investment model designed to recycle capital over time, alongside a deal-by-deal co-investment strategy with institutional and pension fund partners to maximize regional impact.

The draft investment strategy and structure have recently been formally endorsed by the Strategic Place Partnership Board. The Authority is now finalising the necessary governance and delivery architecture to ensure schemes can be brought forward rapidly.

Scope of Requirements:

Core Responsibilities and Scope of Work

The successful Fund Adviser will be required to manage and execute across the following three core pillars (A,B,C) of the fund lifecycle:

A. Origination, Structuring & Execution

Pipeline, Origination & Market Engagement

• Design and implement an approach for continuous pipeline management, market engagement and opportunity sourcing, including helping the Authority maintain a transparent route for eligible schemes to be considered. This will initially prioritise opportunities capable of demonstrating realistic delivery trajectories within the current mayoral term.
• Engage with a diverse network of regional stakeholders, including local authorities, public-sector partners, the local property community, and national developers or investors to source "oven-ready" schemes.

Transaction Structuring & Investment Modelling

• Design bespoke, deal-by-deal investment structures that balance risk and return while prioritizing capital recyclability and delivery.
• Structure appropriate pricing, tenors (typically ranging from 3 to 5 years), and clear exit strategies-including complex repayment hierarchies (e.g., senior debt recovery followed by FPF equity capital recovery) and profit-share/upside mechanisms.

End-to-End Due Diligence & Transaction Execution

The adviser will have primary responsibility for driving transactions through a structured, 4-stage governance and underwriting process:

• Investment Overview: Producing concise, one-page investment overviews for initial deal screening.