The UK possesses the fundamental ingredients for a world-leading capital market—including top universities, a thriving startup scene, and the world's second-largest pool of institutional capital—but has been held back by past policy decisions.
Historical pension reforms inadvertently de-risked institutional portfolios, disconnecting a vast pool of domestic savings from the UK's growth economy.
This is now being actively reversed through initiatives like the Mansion House Compact.
The speaker argues that the narrative of UK companies needing to list in the US for liquidity is flawed, citing data on the poor performance of UK firms post-US listing and underreported liquidity on the London Stock Exchange.
A strategic shift is underway from prescriptive, cost-focused regulation to an 'outcomes-based' model, aiming to foster innovation, improve investor returns, and channel risk capital into the domestic economy more effectively.
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Concerns Raised
Past policy mistakes, like pension reforms and stamp duty, have created deep-seated structural problems that are only now being addressed.
The UK's regulatory culture has been overly focused on cost-minimization and risk-aversion, stifling investment in growth assets.
UK investors and pension funds are missing out on the wealth creation of domestic technology champions like Arm that choose to list abroad.
A perception that London may be losing its competitive edge for attracting top tech talent due to regulatory hurdles and high living costs.
Opportunities Identified
Unlocking the UK's vast pool of institutional pension capital for domestic investment through reforms like the Mansion House Compact.
Consolidating thousands of small pension funds to create scaled, sophisticated investors capable of allocating to private markets and growth equity.
Reforming the regulatory framework to be 'outcomes-based', which could spur innovation and make the UK a more attractive place to start and scale a business.
Reversing EU-era rules (MiFID II) to improve the investment research ecosystem, especially for small and mid-cap companies.