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S4 Ep. 24

Investment Uncut: Bringing growth back to the UK with the Lord Mayor of London

Investment

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This week’s episode is a double whammy, combining two recent interviews! First, our interview with LCP's Stephen Budge who we spoke to at the PLSA investment conference in June – he had just come off a panel session on investing in illiquids in DC. Prompted by that discussion, very excitingly, we were able to line up a chat with the Lord Mayor of London, Nicholas Lyons. It was a real treat to speak to the Lord Mayor the same week as the Mansion House speech, which was so relevant to the conversation we’d already planned to have around productive finance and UK growth!

We discuss:

  • Why opening the DC market to private markets investments can improve member outcomes and support growth 
  • How to get around liquidity and diversification concerns: the focus on default allocations as well as consolidation 
  • What the Productive Finance Working Group is about, combining industry with Treasury and regulators – Stephen’s role Chairing the “performance fee” workstream – and the comprehensive guide now available 
  • What “value for money” should really mean to investors – with “value” being key here 
  • Cutting through the jargon: what productive / patient / growth capital actually is (both Stephen's and the Lord Mayor’s takes!) 
  • The traditions of Mansion House and the Lord Mayor’s role, including international ambassadorship, extensive travel and why even within the UK it’s not just about the City of London 
  • Why the Lord Mayor thinks we need to start with late stage Venture Capital and the exciting supply of such opportunities in the UK – but the danger of not supporting such ventures (they relocate abroad where their support exists) 
  • Where ESG and sustainability fit into the equation (for us this really is key to success) 
  • The collective investment fund that could be used – the “Future Growth Fund” – focussed on keeping things simple, unrestricted, and diversified, enabling scale and successive investment in opportunities. Why this could act as a catalyst for more action, and the interaction with other reforms such as listing on the stock exchange 
  • Why we don’t need to force a focus on the UK, but should be confident in a global fund seeking attractive UK opportunities (around the whole of the UK)  
  • How this interacts with the Mansion House Compact and the emphasis on the private sector