Autumn for me represents two things: colder, darker days, and a new budget. I wait excitedly for the budget in the hope of fewer taxes, but it seldom happens - however this year, something else exciting happened. Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, declared the Government wants to see pension funds invest in patient capital as a way of financing growth in innovative firms as part of his mission to unlock over £20bn of new investment over the next 10 years, ensuring the UK economy is fit for the future. This move follows a government consultation that closed in September 2017 which discussed lowering barriers to patient capital investment, such as long-term illiquid investments in start-up companies, for defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) schemes. This change won’t take place overnight - The Pensions Regulator will still need to provide guidance on how trustees can increase patient capital investment, which both the regulator and HM Treasury has not yet provided a timescale on. However the Treasury has said they will establish a working group consisting of institutional investors and fund managers with the goal of increasing access to patient capital for innovative firms, and removing barriers to investment for DC members. 
In this current low yielding environment with various asset classes valued at record highs the thought of allocating to alternative long-term investments such infrastructure and venture capital which are less correlated to traditional asset classes offers a hope of a higher level of future returns for DB schemes. This could help decrease funding deficits. I believe over time illiquid long-term assets which are currently more accessible for larger schemes will become available for smaller schemes, as previously occurred for LDI. Investment in long-term patient capital represents an opportunity to encourage younger DC members to get involved with investing in their pension. As they are unlikely to retire for decades the benefits of long-term patient capital will be more visible to them. However most DC pensions’ assets are currently daily priced and normally offer daily liquidity. These two factors make it extremely difficult to make illiquid assets available to DC investors. On a technical point, DC funds are offered in life assurance wrappers and the rules around those wrappers typically prohibit investment in illiquid asset classes. Removing barriers to entry can only be a positive thing as it will help investors allocate capital more appropriately. These new changes will benefit DC members as they currently have a greater challenge accessing long-term illiquid investments. DB schemes will also benefit as they will have a greater opportunity to allocate to diversified less correlated assets. For more information or to discuss the content of the blog please get in touch. Brendan McLean t:/ 020 3794 0193 e:/ Brendan_McLean@spenceandpartners.co.uk