Seventeen UK pension providers that signed the Mansion House Accord held £22.1 billion of defined-contribution growth-phase assets in private markets worldwide at 31 December 2025, about 6.6% of those assets, with £11.1 billion, or 3.3%, in UK private markets, according to the first progress update from the Association of British Insurers and Pensions UK. IPE reported the figures on 21 October.

The UK holdings are dominated by property. IPE reported that property, including social and affordable housing, accounted for £8 billion, infrastructure for £1.3 billion, private debt and credit for £0.9 billion and private equity for £0.5 billion. Venture capital and growth equity are not named separately in IPE's report. Signatories have signed agreements to invest a further £3 billion in UK private markets, according to the update.

The accord's target is for 10% of defined-contribution default assets to be in private markets by 2030, including 5% in the UK, subject to fiduciary and regulatory duties. Yvonne Braun of the ABI said there “can be no room for complacency” and that “sustaining this momentum will depend on a strong pipeline of investable opportunities.”

Where venture fits

Whether venture capital benefits is the open question. Global Venturing reported on 22 September that the accord's wording changed from “unlisted equities” to “private assets,” so most of the money will probably go to infrastructure and real estate rather than venture. It said L&G is disbanding its venture team because property and infrastructure can meet the government's targets, and, citing the State of European Tech 2025 report, that UK and Irish pension funds put “a staggeringly low” 0.001% of assets under management into European venture capital in 2024.

Unlisted equity is covered separately by the earlier Mansion House Compact of 2023, which targets at least 5% of default funds by 2030. Signatories' unlisted equity investment in default funds rose 65% between February and 31 December 2025, from £1.6 billion to £2.7 billion, IPE reported.

Why it matters beyond the UK

Pension capital is the investor group that the European Central Bank and the Banque de France say Europe's venture funds lack. The ECB puts pension funds at 10% to 19% of investors in EU venture funds on alternative measures, and the Banque de France says European insurers held just 1.45% of their investments in private equity in late 2024. The UK figures show that where pension schemes have stepped up private-markets investment, the money has so far gone mostly elsewhere: property, infrastructure and private debt account for £10.2 billion of the £10.7 billion that IPE itemised.

Sources and notes. IPE (Pamela Kokoszka, 21 October 2026) reporting ABI and Pensions UK data; Global Venturing (James Mawson, 22 September 2026); ECB, Financial Integration and Structure in the Euro Area 2026; Banque de France, Billet 435. IPE's itemised categories sum to £10.7 billion of the £11.1 billion UK total; the remainder is not described in the coverage reviewed. Thumbnail photo: “Mansion House, City of London” by Michael Gwyther-Jones via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0; cropped. Illustrative photo of the building in the City of London; it does not depict the figures described.