Scottish Widows has launched a UK venture growth portfolio within its CG Scottish Widows Growth long-term asset fund (LTAF).
The mandate launches with new investments in areas of strategic importance to the UK, including quantum computing, advanced battery technology and AI-enabled healthcare.
Aberdeen Investments, which manages the growth sub-fund for Scottish Widows, has appointed IP Group to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the fund, helping bring private markets exposure to workplace pension savers.
Scottish Widows is among the first UK pension
Scottish Widows is among the first UK pension schemes to actively allocate members’ capital to UK venture growth by connecting patient institutional capital with high-potential British businesses.
“It demonstrates a model that can be expanded over time, increasing the flow of long-term pension capital into high-growth UK businesses, as part of the fund’s broader global private markets remit,” the UK pension fund stated.
It added that the mandate is designed to support stronger retirement outcomes for members and “address a critical constraint on the UK innovation economy: the availability of meaningful follow-on funding for companies ready to commercialise and expand”.
The first investments from IP Group will be
The first investments from IP Group will be deployed across several strategically important areas of UK innovation, spanning quantum computing, advanced battery technology and AI-enabled healthcare.
Scottish Widows said that initial investments are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, which is building commercially available quantum computing systems; Quantum Motion, which is building scalable silicon-based quantum computers designed for mass adoption; Nyobolt, whose ultra-fast-charging battery technology is advancing high-performance energy storage; and Genomics Limited, which is applying AI, machine learning and large-scale genetic datasets to transform preventative healthcare and drug discovery.
Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer of Scottish Widows, said: “We believe pension savers should be able to benefit from the growth and innovation taking place across the UK. Our proposition helps connect our workplace pension customers’ long-term savings with some of Britain’s most innovative, high-growth companies, giving them access to investment opportunities that have traditionally been available mainly to institutional investors.”
Nalaka De Silva, head of private markets solutions
Nalaka De Silva, head of private markets solutions at Aberdeen Investments, said: “The UK has no shortage of scientific excellence and does not lack entrepreneurship or talent to develop globally relevant ideas.
“What competitive companies have lacked is sufficient pools of patient domestic capital to help them expand and grow. This partnership turns intent into investment: we are extremely proud to deliver one of the first active allocations by a UK DC workplace pension proposition to back British science and technology companies for the long-term benefit of pension members.”
