Mansion House Accord one year on: Where the UK is heading

One year following the Mansion House Accord, UK pension schemes have demonstrated measurable momentum in reallocating capital toward private markets, according to analysis from Schroders. The accord, which established policy objectives around increasing institutional capital deployment into private equity, infrastructure, and private credit, has created a supportive regulatory and policy environment that continues to facilitate this transition.

Senior executives at Schroders identify three foundational pillars supporting this shift: established policy frameworks, evolving regulatory infrastructure, and developing operational systems to process and execute private market allocations at institutional scale. However, they note that regulatory enablement alone is insufficient; the trajectory of future capital flows will be materially constrained by two specific operational challenges. First, fee mechanics—including carried interest structures, management fee transparency, and cost allocation methodologies—must align with pension fund fiduciary requirements and member cost expectations. Second, UK-focused growth capital availability remains a structural bottleneck; pension schemes seeking domestic private equity exposure confront limited deal flow relative to capital availability, particularly in mid-market segments.

The Mansion House Accord framework has successfully removed certain barriers to pension capital deployment, yet the sustainability of increased private market allocations will depend on market participants addressing cost transparency and expanding the investable universe of qualifying domestic opportunities. These dynamics create strategic implications for fund managers sizing vehicles, pension scheme trustees structuring allocation mandates, and policymakers evaluating whether current regulatory incentives have adequately addressed supply-side constraints in the UK private capital market.