Room151’s Real Estate Roundtable

George retired from his role as Director of the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority after nearly 8 years in December 2025, after a career in local government finance and pensions which included senior finance roles in district and county councils and leading the Lancashire Pension Fund during the creation of LPP follows by leading LPP’s administration business. He now acts as an independent adviser to Border to Coast Pensions Partnership on local investment and is Independent Chair of Lincolnshire’s Local Pension Board as well as providing advice on a range of issues to other LGPS funds. 

Mike joined LGPS Central in 2018 as Investment Director of Property and Infrastructure. More recently Mike became solely responsible for LGPS Central’s property investments and in 2023 launched a direct property fund which is managed in collaboration with DTZ Investors. Mike is currently working on the launch of an indirect residential property fund, which is due to take place in March 2024. Prior to joining LGPS Central, Mike had a number of roles within West Midlands Pension Fund, after joining the Investments Division in 1995. 

Richard Levis is a Senior Investment Consultant in the Wealth Investments team of Mercer, based in London. He joined Mercer in 2020 and has worked in the financial services industry since 2004.

He is responsible for providing investment advice to a wide range of institutional clients including LGPS, corporate DB pension funds, insurers, endowments and foundations. He has a background in commercial real estate investment management and prior to his current role he was a Senior Real Estate Specialist in the Mercer Alternatives division of the company.

Paul is Portfolio Manager for Border to Coast’s £870m Global Real Estate funds. He has 25 years industry experience​, joining Border to Coast in 2018 from Teesside Pension Fund where he was head of investments. Paul is a Chartered Management Accountant and IMC Qualified​.