Key Takeaways
- • Scottish Widows is among the first UK workplace pension providers to direct members' savings into British venture growth companies, via the CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF.
- • The fund invests through IP Group, appointed by Aberdeen Investments to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the fund.
- • Initial investments are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion, Nyobolt and Genomics Limited, spanning quantum computing, battery technology and AI-enabled healthcare.
- • The structure gives defined contribution pension savers access to growth opportunities previously largely confined to institutional investors.
Summary
Scottish Widows is among the first UK workplace pension providers to channel members' savings into British venture growth companies through a new fund, the CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF. The fund will back firms in quantum computing, battery technology and AI-enabled healthcare, according to the Scottish Financial News report.
The fund will invest through IP Group, which has been appointed by Aberdeen Investments to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the vehicle. Initial investments are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion, Nyobolt and Genomics Limited.
Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer at Scottish Widows, said the proposition connects workplace pension customers' long-term savings with high-growth UK companies, giving them access to opportunities that have traditionally been available mainly to institutional investors. Nalaka De Silva, head of private markets solutions at Aberdeen Investments, described the partnership as one of the first active allocations by a UK defined contribution workplace pension proposition to back British science and technology companies, arguing that competitive UK firms have lacked sufficient patient domestic capital to scale.
Greg Smith, chief executive at IP Group, said the fund's first UK investments span quantum computing, clean energy and healthcare innovation, sectors where he believes the UK can build globally significant companies, and described the initiative as only the beginning of a larger opportunity.
The fund will invest through IP Group, which has been appointed by Aberdeen Investments to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the vehicle. Initial investments are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion, Nyobolt and Genomics Limited.
Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer at Scottish Widows, said the proposition connects workplace pension customers' long-term savings with high-growth UK companies, giving them access to opportunities that have traditionally been available mainly to institutional investors. Nalaka De Silva, head of private markets solutions at Aberdeen Investments, described the partnership as one of the first active allocations by a UK defined contribution workplace pension proposition to back British science and technology companies, arguing that competitive UK firms have lacked sufficient patient domestic capital to scale.
Greg Smith, chief executive at IP Group, said the fund's first UK investments span quantum computing, clean energy and healthcare innovation, sectors where he believes the UK can build globally significant companies, and described the initiative as only the beginning of a larger opportunity.
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