Pension funds have a “great opportunity” to boost both member outcomes and the UK economy by increasing investment in venture capital and growth assets, speakers argued during a session at the Pensions UK Investment Conference 2026.

Speaking during a session on boosting UK growth, British Business Bank (BBB) managing director, Leandros Kalisperas, highlighted the scale of the gap between the UK and the US when it comes to institutional investment in venture capital.

“When you look at the US's defined contribution (DC) ecosystem, which everyone acknowledges is probably the best in the world, 70 per cent of the limited partners' (LP) commitments come one way or another from its institutional investor base, compared to 10 per cent of the UK,” he said.

“So there’s clearly a huge potential for pension funds to get involved. I know now that the opportunity for pension funds to generate increased returns from investing in ventures is really, really significant.”

Kalisperas added that the BBB was seeking to support greater participation from pension schemes through initiatives designed to give funds clearer routes into venture capital investment.

“The way the BBB is going to be doing this is by making it clear that there is a choice of architecture for pension funds,” he explained.

“From my perspective, there is no need for mandation in the case of venture - it’s simply a great opportunity that pension funds need to come to on their own journey.”

Echoing this, Office for Investment deputy director, Mark Nichols, argued there was a strong alignment between government and pension fund objectives when it comes to investment and growth.

“Our view is that in helping pension funds get better outcomes for your members, we can also make investments that boost UK growth alongside that," he said.

Nichols stressed that stronger economic growth would ultimately benefit savers, given that most members would retire in the UK and remain invested in domestic markets throughout retirement.

“Members will retire, for the most part, in the UK, so creating better growth will give them better retirements,” he continued.

“And of course, if they’re not taking all of that retirement pot on day one, they’ll still be invested in the market, the environment into which they retire.

“So to my mind, it’s very much aligned - if you can boost UK growth with investments, it goes alongside better outcomes for your members.”

The comments come amid ongoing efforts by policymakers to encourage greater investment in pension schemes in productive assets, including venture capital and other private markets, as part of a wider push to support UK economic growth while improving long-term retirement outcomes.

---