Scottish Widows, Aberdeen Investments and IP Group have launched a fund allocating workplace pension savings into UK science and technology companies.
The CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF is among the first to put UK pension schemes capital into venture growth.
Aberdeen Investments, which manages the growth sub-fund for Scottish Widows, has appointed IP Group to manage a portfolio within the fund, helping bring private markets exposure to pension savers.
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 will be deployed across “several strategically-important areas of UK innovation”, including quantum computing, advanced battery technology and artificial intelligence-enabled healthcare.
These are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, which is building quantum computing systems; Quantum Motion, which specialises in silicon-based quantum computers; Nyobolt, which is developing battery charging tech; and Genomics, which is applying machine learning and large-scale genetic datasets to revolutionise drug discovery.
Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer at 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 at Aberdeen Investments, added: “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.”
