UK Private Capital raises alarm over ‘slow and unclear’ progress from Mansion House signatories May 19, 2026 A leading private capital trade body has raised the alarm over the lack of urgency from Mansion House signatories to meet their commitments and increase allocations into venture capital. UK Private Capital, which was previously known as the British Venture Capital Association, has called on signatories to work faster, after uncovering limited evidence of any [...]
Time to Aim higher: ‘No visible effect’ of flagship pensions overhaul a year on, industry chief warns May 14, 2026 Britain’s embattled small-cap companies have not yet felt any positive impact from the Mansion House Accord, the boss of an influential industry body has warned, a year on from the UK’s largest pension providers agreeing to plough more cash into unlisted and private assets. In a letter sent to all 17 of the pact’s signatories, [...]
City sounds the alarm on pension inheritance tax upheaval May 13, 2026 City grandees have raised the alarm over government plans to overhaul key rules over pensions and inheritance tax. The sweeping reforms will allow scheme providers to retain half an outstanding pension pot to ensure executors can cover potential bills for inheritance tax, or IHT. Due to take effect in April next year, the changes will bring [...]
Ask the expert: Is £500k enough to retire? May 13, 2026 Fidelity personal finance specialist Marianna Hunt is back to help a reader who wants to know if they have enough in their portfolio to not only retire but to live the lifestyle they want. Q. I’m 55 and have built up a portfolio worth around £500,000 – split across pensions and ISAs. I’ve also paid [...]
Mandation was never the way to get pensions investing in venture capital May 1, 2026 The VC industry should welcome the watering down of the Pension Schemes Bill – self-regulation, not the blunt instrument of mandation, is the answer, says Duncan Johnson After four back-and-forths between the two parliamentary houses, the Pension Schemes Bill is set to gain Royal Assent after the Lords accepted a final draft on Tuesday. The [...]
Pension industry 1-0 Torsten Bell April 30, 2026 We should be grateful that the absurd idea of a government-imposed cap on rent died less than 24 hours after it first reared its head, but another madcap Treasury scheme took far longer to bite the dust. The government’s Pensions Schemes Act (which passed into law yesterday) contained plenty of sensible and interesting measures, including [...]
Schroders backs Wayve and Elevenlabs with UK’s first venture capital fund for pensions April 29, 2026 Autonomous vehicle unicorn Wayve and deeptech darling Elevenlabs are among the fast-growing unicorns that have been backed by the cash raised in a historic funding round by the UK’s first venture capital vehicle set up to cater for pensions. Schroders Capital announced on Wednesday it had injected over £100m into British-based tech and life sciences [...]
Number of top rate taxpayers surges as frozen thresholds squeeze Brits April 29, 2026 The number of higher and additional rate taxpayers in the UK has soared since the start of the decade as frozen thresholds have dragged nearly two million into paying higher rates of tax despite not being classified as traditional high-paid professionals. According to the latest personal income statistics from HMRC covering the 2023/24 tax year, [...]
End of deadlock: Pension Schemes Bill to become law as government backs down April 29, 2026 The Pension Schemes Bill is set to become law after the House of Lords agreed to final watering down plans from the government, ending the long-standing deadlock between the two houses. The legislation had run into multiple walls amid consistent back and forth between the lower and upper house, after neither side refused to back [...]
Pension deadlock: Government and Lords refuse to back down in stalemate April 28, 2026 The government and the House of Lords are locked in a high-stakes political standoff over pensions, both refusing to back down on their demands for the Pension Schemes Bill, leaving its passage up in air as the clock winds down on this parliamentary session. Attempts to finalise the bill in the upper house remain ensnared [...]