Industry Funds Management, which manages about US$32 billion, says the U.K.’s Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund has given it a 35 million pound mandate to invest in infrastructure.

“This mandate is a significant milestone for IFM,” Christian Seymour, IFM’s head of infrastructure Europe, says in a statement.

Melbourne-based IFM manages about US$10 billion in infrastructure assets, split about evenly between an Australia-focused investment fund and an international fund. It aims for annual returns of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent per annum.

Over 17 years its Australian fund has had an annual return of about 12.5 per cent. Its investments include airports in Australia, toll roads, Brisbane’s port, the U.K.’s Anglian Water Co. and the Colonial Pipeline in the U.S.

IFM is owned by 32 not-for-profit Australian pension funds and also invests in private equity, stocks and bonds. It is a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

“Their long-term and sustainable investment approach is fully aligned to the needs and requirements of the fund,” Colin Pratt, investments manager at Leicestershire Council, says in a statement.

The assets under management at Leicestershire County Council Pension Fund as of March 31, 2011 was 2.3 billion pounds.

The “total fund investment performance (was) 8.5 per cent” in the 12 months to March 31, according to its web site.

The fund has had an average annual return is 2 per cent over five years from 2006. It uses UBS AG, Standard Life Investments and Capital International among others to manage its assets.