The CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF will invest through IP Group, which has been appointed by Aberdeen Investments to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the fund. Initial investments are expected to include Oxford Quantum Circuits, Quantum Motion, Nyobolt and Genomics Limited. 

Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer at Scottish Widows, said: “We believe pension savers should be able to benefit from the growth and innovation taking place across the UK. Our  proposition helps connect our workplace pension customers’ long-term savings with some of Britain’s most innovative, high-growth companies, giving them access to investment opportunities that have traditionally been available mainly to institutional investors.”

Nalaka De Silva, head of private markets solutions at Aberdeen Investments, said: “The UK has no shortage of scientific excellence and does not lack entrepreneurship or talent to develop globally relevant ideas.

“What competitive companies have lacked is sufficient pools of patient domestic capital to help them expand and grow. This partnership turns intent into investment: We are extremely proud to deliver one of the first active allocations by a UK DC workplace pension proposition to back British science and technology companies for the long-term benefit of pension members.”

Greg Smith, chief executive at IP Group, said: “We are helping create a pathway for millions of pension savers to participate in the value created by the next generation of technology leaders.

“It’s fantastic that the fund’s first UK investments span such important areas including quantum computing, clean energy and healthcare innovation, sectors where the UK has the potential to build globally significant companies. We believe this is only the beginning of a much larger opportunity to unlock growth, support economic prosperity and deliver attractive long-term returns for savers.”