Pension funds pledged a private investment splurge. Three years on, has anything changed? Markets When 11 of the UK’s largest pension providers signed a deal to pump billions into unlisted companies in July 2023, the mood at Mansion House in the City was celebratory. Then Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hailed the signing a “great personal triumph” for then Lord Mayor, Sir Nicholas Lyons. If the remainder of the UK defined [...]
OECD sounds alarm on pension triple lock in challenge to Burnham Economics The world’s leading independent economic organisation has warned that reform of the triple lock on state pensions is “necessary to reduce fiscal risks”, in a challenge to Andy Burnham as he prepares to take over as Prime Minister. The OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, described the triple lock guarantee as “unusually generous [...]
If Burnham wants growth he’ll have to save the City Business Quite the roll call: Beazley, Tate & Lyle, Intertek, Schroders, easyjet. Companies abandon their public listing for their own reasons but the cumulative impact cannot be ignored and, given the dearth of any substantial new entrants, it cannot be dismissed as the healthy churn of dynamic capital markets. Far from it. A typically punchy note [...]
State-backed pension scheme plans to pump £1bn into start-ups July 8, 2026 The UK’s largest state backed pension scheme is planning to invest up to £1bn in venture capital by the end of the decade in a bid to boost returns for its members and fuel economic growth. The National Employment Savings Trust, dubbed Nest, said its plans to expand into high-growth private companies will begin with [...]
How the boss of Zilch became UK fintech’s power broker July 8, 2026 Last year, Zilch founder Philip Belamant sat down with then-boss of Monzo, TS Anil. As the two friends caught up, Belamant was fizzing with ideas to turn his $2bn British fintech into a global powerhouse, according to sources familiar with the matter. Not long ago, Zilch had set up shop across the pond, and Belamant [...]
Tale of two cities: London leaps ahead in global finance but domestic growth stalls July 3, 2026 The City of London has cemented its dominance in international finance ten years on from the Brexit vote but faced sobering domestic growth that failed to match the momentum. The capital sees more international activity conducted than the next eight largest financial centres in Europe combined, according to a new report by New Financial. The [...]
Carrying debt into retirement isn’t always bad news June 23, 2026 As more pensioners turn to housing wealth to fund old age, James Daley argues that perceptions around carrying debt into retirement need to change.
Making the jump to self-employment could damage your pension savings June 11, 2026 Employees making the leap into self-employment could put their retirement at risk, with many unlikely to continue saving into a pension upon leaving auto-enrolment. Roughly one in five self-employed workers save into a private pension, compared with around four in five employees, leaving those working for themselves at greater risk of having insufficient savings upon [...]
Government sets out conditions for unlocking ‘trapped capital’ in defined benefit pension schemes June 10, 2026 The government has published a consultation setting out conditions on freeing ‘trapped’ capital from defined benefit pension schemes, in a bid to keep pace with the rapidly changing pension landscape and free up greater amounts of capital. The consultation, published on Wednesday by the Department of Work and Pensions, set out plans to give trustees [...]
Pension funds must ’embrace’ private markets to fuel growth June 10, 2026 UK pension funds must stop hiding in public equity benchmarks and ‘embrace’ private markets in order to meet their obligations and accelerate economic growth, the group chief executive of one of the UK’s largest pension providers has argued. Andrew Evans, co-founder and group CEO of Smart Pension, urged providers to steer away from public markets [...]