UK, Pension Management

U.K. regulators propose to expand access to illiquid investments

U.K. financial regulators issued recommendations Monday aimed at making it easier for defined contribution plan participants to invest in less-liquid assets.

The productive finance working group’s report, A Roadmap for Increasing Productive Finance Investment, made four recommendations with specific actions for both the industry and government. The group includes officials with the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Treasury.

The recommendations include encouraging plan trustees to consider less-liquid assets; increasing scale by continuing to consolidate smaller plans; building industry support for liquidity management; and having the FCA consider removing a 35% cap on illiquid investments.

“Appropriately managed, investment in such assets has the potential to generate better returns for investors, including those saving for retirement in defined contribution pension schemes, given their typically long-term investment horizons,” the report said.

Defined contribution assets are now total more than £500 billion ($687 billion) and are expected to double to £1 trillion by 2030.

Expanding access to less-liquid investments like infrastructure will also benefit the wider economy, the regulators said in a news release, and would support a long-term asset fund being developed in the U.K.

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