Nest commits £200M to UK venture, targeting £1B by 2030

Nest, the UK's largest master trust, will allocate an initial £200 million to a venture capital strategy run by Schroders Capital, aiming to grow that to £1 billion by 2030. Nest, which manages £68 billion in assets, said it wants to formalise existing growth-equity holdings and increase exposure to "late-stage, high-growth businesses."

The trust plans to build "a more meaningful allocation to late-stage venture capital" over the coming years, with an emphasis on UK companies. Its venture sleeve already includes stakes in autonomous-driving firm Wayve and AI video specialist Synthesia, both held in Schroders' UK Innovation long-term asset fund.

Pension funds have faced government pressure to raise domestic allocations, including in private markets. That led to last year's Mansion House Accord, signed by 17 providers including Nest. Members surveyed at a recent "member assembly" also backed investing in UK startups.

"As a large, long-term investor, Nest is well positioned to support ambitious private companies," said Mark Fawcett, chief executive of subsidiary Nest Invest. "Our members save with us over decades, which allows us to invest patiently and back innovation through different stages of growth."

Tim Creed, head of private equity investments at Schroders Capital, noted that while the UK is Europe's largest venture hub and the world's third largest, "domestic capital has not historically participated at the same rate."

Michael Moore, chief executive of trade body UK Private Capital, called the move "a significant and welcome milestone for the UK venture capital market." He added: "Commitments of this scale send an important signal to the market that there is a compelling investment case for UK innovation, and we hope it encourages other pension schemes to accelerate their own plans."