British fund management giants vie to run £1bn Scale-Up Fund

Some of Britain's biggest fund managers are angling to run a new £1bn fund that will hold stakes in some of the country's most promising science and technology companies.

Sky News has learnt that M&G Investments and Schroders are among the firms which have applied to manage the latest pot of pension fund money targeting UK tech champions.

The new Scale Up Fund, which has won the backing of ministers and administrative and financial support from the state-owned British Business Bank, was unveiled last month.

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City sources said a number of other asset management groups, including early-stage investors, had also applied to manage the new vehicle.

Pension schemes which have agreed to deploy capital into the fund include local authority retirement funds such as LPPI, while Border To Coast, Railpen and Nest are also backing its creation.

Its launch comes at a time of renewed concerns about an exodus of successful UK start-ups which either sell to overseas strategic buyers or relocate abroad to access growth capital more easily.

Andy Burnham, prime minister, claimed last month that the new fund would "help unlock good growth in every postcode, connecting pension investment with the entrepreneurs and technologies that will reindustrialise Britain and create the jobs of the future".

The chancellor, John Healey, said: "We have the third largest venture capital market in the world and this new £1bn fund will mean more British money to back British scale-ups and better returns for pension savers."

The selection criteria for companies eligible for investment from the fund have yet to be disclosed publicly.

A similar EU vehicle, called Scale Up Europe, is being managed by the Stockholm-based investment giant EQT, which is not thought to be in contention to manage the new UK fund.

M&G and Schroders, which is being taken over by US peer Nuveen, both declined to comment on Wednesday.

(c) Sky News 2026: British fund management giants vie to run £1bn Scale-Up Fund