London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) has become the first local government pension scheme pool to back a new initiative aimed at increasing funding for early-stage startups.
London CIV, which manages the local government pensions for the 32 boroughs of London and the City, has agreed to work with the British Business Bank on the launch of the British Growth Partnership, with a view to making an investment in the initial fund when launched.
Announced at the International Investment Summit, the British Growth Partnership will encourage UK pension funds and other institutional investors to put capital into innovative companies, in line with government efforts to improve access to startup and scaleup capital.
London CIV joins pension groups Aegon UK and NatWest Cushon, both of which have also agreed to work with the new funding partnership.
“London CIV’s goal continues to be developing investment solutions that reflect the evolving needs of our Partner Funds, particularly in areas such as private equity where demand continues to grow,” said Andrien Meyers, chief commercial officer at London CIV.
“This is a highly-positive step as part of our comprehensive process to deliver sound private equity solutions for London CIV Partner Funds – many of whom have lobbied London CIV to explore and pursue for some time.”
The British Business Bank said the initial fund will seek to raise hundreds of millions of pounds.
The group received regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority earlier this month for BBB Investment Services, a third party arm of the development bank, to provide investment services to clients ahead of the launch.
“This announcement is an endorsement of the work the British Business Bank is doing to support pension funds and other institutional investors to access venture capital opportunities,” added Ian Connatty, managing partner at BBB Investment Services.
“By unlocking hundreds of millions of pounds of domestic investment for the UK’s high growth businesses through the creation of the British Growth Partnership, the UK can capture the full commercial potential of its world class breakthrough technology companies while providing a legacy for future generations of pensioners.”
Read more: British Business Bank commits £40m to regional investment fund
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