Top Aussie pension funds wooed by Labour amid investment drive
Some of Australia’s largest pension funds are being courted by the Labour government amid a rush to attract higher investment in the UK.
Ahead of a summit in Birmingham, Australia’s largest pension fund AustralianSuper said it was still investing an extra £7bn UK assets over the next five years, a move praised by the government as a sign of investors’ willingness to back the UK.
Senior Labour officials are ramping up efforts to woo global pension funds as Yvette Cooper hosted Australian investment leaders at 1 Carlton Gardens, the foreign secretary’s official London residence.
Other than representatives from AustralianSuper, those in attendance included officials from Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and Macquarie Group.
The government has made pension reforms and unlocking investment from major global funds central to its long-term growth plans, with efforts to get more cash ploughed into UK companies led by the Treasury minister Torsten Bell.
During a breakfast on Wednesday, Cooper is understood to have urged Australian funds to back the UK’s energy, transport and construction sectors.
Pension funds join summit
The investment summit in Birmingham has meanwhile been set up to champion the amount of cash flows being spread out beyond London, with Legal & General (L&G) and Nest committing billions to drive infrastructure and create jobs.
On Wednesday afternoon, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to talk up Labour’s plans to cut 25 per cent of the regulatory burden for the private sector as she takes aim at “pointless admin”.
Under new measures, directors of small firms will have to submit fewer reports through Companies House while Reeves will also announce reforms to the Competition and Market Authority (CMA).
Changes include replacing a panel decision-making system with another committee, giving the CMA more power to oversee market investigations into competition when mergers take place.
The package of measures will also see AI companies able to release products even if they don’t comply with existing rules if products are deemed capable of accelerating operations.
The government is also looking at ways to join up regional investment opportunities with the private sector.
Despite a new remit for regulators to draw up rules that are good for growth, business groups have claimed Labour’s deregulation drive is set to be undermined by the Employment Rights Bill.
Several influential groups, including the Federation of Small Businesses, have hit out at the plans, which are due to be written into legislation by the end of the year, due to their potential to add costs on employers.