Lord Vallance speech at the BVCA Pensions and Private Capital Showcase

Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, addressed the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association's Pensions and Private Capital Showcase on October 2, 2025, with a direct appeal to pension fund managers to redirect capital toward UK-based science and technology companies. The Science Minister framed pension fund investment as fundamental to the government's mission to commercialize and scale British research at a time when the UK has established itself as Europe's leading destination for technology investment.

The centerpiece of Vallance's argument rested on the Arm case study. Founded 35 years ago in Cambridge by a small team at Acorn Computers, the company developed a revolutionary processor design that became the architectural foundation for 99% of the world's smartphones. Despite its origin in British scientific innovation, Arm sourced the majority of capital required for global expansion from overseas investors and now maintains its primary listing on NASDAQ in New York. This narrative illustrated both the UK's innovation strength and the structural capital gap that has allowed significant value creation to benefit foreign pension funds and institutional investors rather than UK savers.

Vallance acknowledged the UK's formidable innovation infrastructure: four universities in the world's top ten, world-class research capabilities, and the highest concentration of startups in Europe. However, he emphasized that insufficient domestic capital has prevented enough "exciting innovation engines" from reaching global scale. The government's response includes the Innovation Cluster Map, an investor targeting tool designed to help pension schemes and asset managers identify high-growth companies across UK science and technology sectors.

The speech reinforced the government's partnership with the BVCA, which has operated through its Pensions & Private Capital Expert Panel (led by Kerry Baldwin) and the Investment Compact initiative. Vallance positioned pension fund participation not merely as a financial returns opportunity—though he noted pension investors would benefit materially—but as a mechanism for broader systemic outcomes: accelerated healthcare innovation through NHS access to emerging treatments and the cementing of Britain's position as a leading global innovation economy. The event represented a deliberate effort to mobilize institutional capital toward domestic science and technology ventures at scale.