Boris Johnson wants an ‘Investment Big Bang’ in Britain

Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants investors to put their money in British ventures.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have called on the UK’s institutional investors to “seize the moment for a ‘Investment Big Bang’” to boost Britain’s long-term growth.

“It’s time we recognised the quality that other countries see in the UK, and back ourselves by investing more money into the companies and infrastructure that will drive growth and prosperity across our country,” Johnson and Sunak wrote in an open letter published on August 4.

“We want to see UK pension savers benefitting from the fruits of UK ingenuity and enterprise, being given the opportunity to back British success stories, and secure higher returns and better retirements,” they added.

Currently, global investors, including pension funds from Canada and Australia, are benefitting from the opportunities that UK long term investments afford, while UK institutional investors are under-represented in owning UK assets. More than 80 per cent of UK defined contribution pension funds’ investments are in mostly listed securities, which represent only twenty percent of the UK’s assets.

“The Prime Minister and Chancellor recognise that choosing which assets to invest in remains a matter for pension fund trustees and other institutional investors, but urges them to consider whether they could invest more UK assets that require longer-duration investments,” the government said in a statement.

“This challenge comes alongside the action the Government is already taking to remove obstacles to long-term illiquid investment within the UK, by setting up the UK Infrastructure Bank and introducing flexibilities into the cap on fees that defined contribution pension schemes can charge,” it added.

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