PRESS RELEASE : AustralianSuper announces £8 billion investment in the UK [March 2024]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 4 March 2024.

Australia’s biggest pension fund to invest more than £18 billion in UK by 2030.

• Set to unleash billions in productive finance for innovative businesses in the high-growth sectors of the future like clean energy and digital infrastructure.
• Chancellor hails investment as part of vision to make the UK the global capital for capital.

A fresh £8 billion investment from Australia’s biggest pension fund, AustralianSuper, will take its total investment in the UK to over £18 billion by the end of the decade.

It comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt met with CEO Paul Schroder, alongside some of the Board, this afternoon and rounds off a day of significant investment announcements, including the government announcing over £360 million of funding for advanced manufacturing.

The Prime Minister attended the ground-breaking of a development site in Swindon today owned by Panattoni, Europe’s largest developer of new build industrial and logistics facilities, which has the potential to create 7,000 jobs for local people and add £1.2 billion to the economy, and the Chancellor visited Siemens Mobility, which revealed a £100 million investment for a manufacturing and research and development centre in Chippenham.

Growing the economy is one of the Prime Minister’s priorities, and is part of the plan to improve economic security and opportunity for everyone. The UK has secured investment from major corporations over the past year, and according to PWC, around 4,000 CEOs see the UK as a top-three priority country for investment, alongside the US and China.

It also follows the announcement of a series of pension fund reforms to back British business and increase returns and transparency for savers, including a new Value for Money (VFM) framework aimed at improving the performance of defined contribution pensions – a market growing rapidly, fuelled by the success of Automatic Enrolment in increasing pension savings by over £26 billion between 2012 and 2022.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:

The raft of investment announcements we have seen today show that the UK remains one of the most attractive places to invest in the world.

But because of the difficult, long term decisions the government has taken the economy is now turning a corner, and we must stick to the plan – driving investment and growth to deliver long-term change and a brighter future everyone.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said:

This major investment from AustralianSuper will promote growth and strengthen the UK’s position as a leading financial centre, creating wealth and helping to fund public services.

Britain continues to be Europe’s leading hub for investment, and it is through commitments like this that we will funnel billions into our brightest, burgeoning businesses to scale up and grow.

The Australian pension fund industry is the fastest growing in the developed world with assets under management doubling every five years, and the Chancellor has previously referred to the success of the pensions model in Australia, which has pioneered a similar set of reforms to VFM.

AustralianSuper has had a presence in the UK since 2016, with approximately £8 billion currently invested in the UK and holding over £2.5 billion in UK listed equities. It is on track to deploy more than £8 billion of new capital by 2030 into large-scale, long-term investment opportunities in some of the fastest growing sectors in which Britain excels in comparison to its European peers, such as the energy transition and digital infrastructure.

Mr Schroder has praised the UK’s investment opportunities for enabling high-quality, long-term returns for members. In future the company stated it expects £7 of every new £10 invested to be deployed outside Australia, as it pursues the best global investment opportunities and long-term returns for members.

The United Kingdom has the largest pension market in Europe, worth over £2.5 trillion. Last year the Chancellor set out his ‘Mansion House Reforms’ to capitalise upon this, with the possibility to unlock an additional £75 billion for high growth businesses – supporting the Prime Minister’s priority of growing the economy and delivering tangible benefits to pensions savers. These include the ‘Mansion House compact’ which encourages pension funds to invest at least 5% of their assets in unlisted equity, which is in line with the Australian model.

Minister for Investment Lord Johnston said:

Foreign investment is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It creates jobs, nurtures skills and unleashes our nation’s innovative spirit. That’s why the UK’s recent trade deal with Australia prioritised boosting investment flows.

AustralianSuper’s ongoing commitment shows the strong relationship we have built as they create a global centre of excellence in London. We are a top choice for major investments like this, and the government is committed to promoting the opportunities available to global investors so they choose the UK.

The UK-Australia free trade agreement, which came into force on 31 May 2023, includes comprehensive provisions on investment, which has made the UK a more attractive place to do business.

Notes to Editors  

More information on the Value for Money framework and other pension fund reforms announced by the Chancellor this past weekend.