Industry experts have warned that the “hard part starts now” for defined contribution (DC) pension investment into private markets, as attention shifts from commitments towards implementation and delivery.

The comments followed the publication of Pensions UK’s report, 2030 Ready: From commitment to deployment, which set out practical steps to help pension schemes increase investment in UK growth assets.

Reacting to the report, Isio partner, George Fowler, said the industry conversation around DC pension investment in private markets had “clearly moved on” over the past 12 to 18 months.

“The industry is now broadly aligned on the role illiquid assets can play in improving long-term member outcomes and supporting UK growth, but the focus is increasingly shifting towards implementation and delivery,” he stated.

Fowler argued the key challenge now is whether schemes and providers can access “genuinely investable opportunities” at the right scale, with suitable governance, liquidity management and fee structures in place.

“Simply increasing allocations alone will not automatically lead to better outcomes for members,” he continued.

“We are also seeing a growing recognition across the market that operational execution matters just as much as strategic ambition.”

Fowler highlighted manager selection, portfolio construction and liquidity management as areas that would determine whether allocations succeed over the long term.

“From a DC perspective, the direction of travel is clear,” he added.

“The challenge now is building the infrastructure, investment vehicles, and policy environment needed to support scalable long-term investment in a way that remains consistent with fiduciary duty and delivers value for savers.”

Similarly, Aviva managing director investment proposition, Lorna Blyth, welcomed the report and its focus on practical steps to increase investment in UK growth.

“As a founding signatory to the Mansion House Accord, we have already deployed one-third of our DC workplace private market assets in the UK, driven solely by our fiduciary duty to secure better risk-adjusted returns for members rather than by mandation,” she said.

Blyth stressed the importance of clearer regulation and access to scalable “pension-grade” opportunities, while maintaining provider discretion over investment decisions.

“We believe providers must retain discretion to balance risk, return and liquidity and to set allocations voluntarily in their members’ best interests,” she stated.

She also urged the government and industry to adopt “pragmatic timelines” and to deliver a steady pipeline of high-quality UK private-market opportunities appropriate for the scale of pension assets.

“This is vital to optimise member outcomes and ensure long-term UK economic growth,” Blyth added.

Meanwhile, People's Partnership chief executive, Patrick Heath-Lay, described increasing investment in domestic private assets, such as infrastructure and property, as “a very exciting prospect” for the scheme’s seven million members.

“As a pension scheme that already invests around 18 per cent of its assets in the UK, increasing this further by investing into domestic private assets such as infrastructure and property is a very exciting prospect for our seven million members,” he said.

Heath-Lay suggested that the work carried out over the past year in preparing to invest in private markets had revealed opportunities capable of delivering attractive returns for members.

He also agreed with the report’s conclusion that fragmentation challenges remain and argued that there is an opportunity to harness public finance vehicles better and improve alignment with industry.

“Addressing these obstacles will help to achieve the deployment of capital at both scale and pace, driving further investment into the UK economy, whilst delivering for savers,” he added.

Echoing this, TPT Retirement Solutions head of policy and external affairs, Ruari Grant, said the priority now is “practical delivery”.

“That means clearer pipelines, better coordination across government and public finance institutions, and investment structures that work for schemes of different sizes and types,” he explained.

Grant also argued that a stronger focus on long-term value, rather than on headline cost alone, would be essential, adding that the report was right to note that regulating employee benefit consultants could help stimulate greater focus on investment.

He also pointed to the report’s recommendation to explore an IFM-style model in the UK, suggesting a platform designed to originate, structure and manage long-term UK assets specifically for DC investors could offer “significant benefits”.

However, Grant cautioned that questions remain over how such a model would be funded and governed within the UK’s corporate DC market, particularly given the number of large providers operating their own commercial asset management businesses.

Also commenting on the report, Royal London director of policy, Jamie Jenkins, said it was “widely accepted” that greater economic growth would lead to greater prosperity and that pension investments could play an important role in supporting the UK economy.

“Whether investing in social infrastructure, sustainable technologies, or simply supporting innovative companies to thrive, there is an opportunity to improve our society while at the same time generating good returns for people saving for their retirement,” he stressed.

“This report from Pensions UK recognises the progress already made but, importantly, identifies the actions we need to take to drive this ambition further in the coming years.”

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