A pension fund investment in British science and technology has been invited to stop hiding behind a filing cabinet and look for the country’s next great company. The government wants pension schemes and venture capital firms to put more money into UK science and technology, apparently on the grounds that retirement savings should occasionally meet something with a pulse.
The call, made on 2 October, said pension schemes and venture capital were underexposed to promising British firms. It also introduced an innovation cluster map, allowing investors to locate research, businesses and jobs without relying on the traditional method of wandering around Cambridge until somebody says quantum.
Pension fund investment gets a treasure map
The map identifies regions with expertise in life sciences, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and digital technology. It helps investors find companies worth backing. Until now, many found opportunity by opening a spreadsheet. Then they waited for it to develop a regional accent.
Doreen Clutchpurse, chair of the fictional National Institute for Sensible Wads, welcomed the map while asking whether it came with a small flag. “Our members want long term returns,” she said. “They also want to know whether a promising biotechnology firm is in the North West or merely a very confident shed.”
The government’s argument is straightforward. Britain has strong research and ambitious companies, but too little domestic capital reaches firms trying to grow. The proposed remedy is for pension investors to work with venture capital and other asset managers, rather than leaving every promising invention to explain itself to an overseas buyer over a lukewarm sandwich.
Founder Rafi Sprocket said the map had improved his fundraising prospects. He had previously described his quantum sensor to investors as a device that measures things you cannot see, which led three of them to ask whether it came in lavender.
Investment chooses a route
Professional investors will still decide where the money goes. Savers are not being handed a treasure map and told to circle their favourite battery company in biro. This is probably wise. One saver would choose fusion. Another would back robotics. Somebody’s uncle would invest in a pub that claims to have invented soup.
The money meets the future
Vernon Parchment, a fictional Treasury liaison, said the aim was to make British pension capital more comfortable with British growth. That may take time. Money which has spent decades being told to avoid risk will not immediately sprint towards a company whose entire business plan is “the laser is nearly ready”.
The pension fund investment now has a map, a mission and several thousand years of compound anxiety. Britain’s next unicorn may receive the backing it needs, provided it can first prove that it is not a scented candle subscription with a laboratory. The map has found the future. It is waiting for the money to stop asking whether the future has a complaints procedure.
Source: the pension investment and science technology announcement
