Two UK Workplace Pensions Have Now Opened Venture Programs Through Managers: A GP Playbook for Pitching a Pension That Invests Through Intermediaries

Two UK workplace pensions have now said they will put members' money into UK venture through appointed managers. Nest announced on 8 July 2026 a dedicated venture capital sleeve run by Schroders Capital, and Scottish Widows announced on 2 November 2026 its first investments through a UK venture growth portfolio, with IP Group appointed by Aberdeen Investments to run it. For a GP, the shared feature matters more than either headline: in both cases the pension does not choose companies or funds one by one. A manager does. This playbook sets out how to pitch an LP of that kind, and every step below is our advice, not guidance from either pension.

What the two announcements say

Nest said it will initially allocate £200 million to Schroders Capital for a venture capital sleeve on behalf of its 14 million members, incorporating existing venture investments and fresh capital for late-stage opportunities. It said the allocation could reach around £1 billion by 2030, subject to enough high-quality opportunities, with a strong focus on UK-based unlisted companies, and described a wider ambition to grow private markets exposure to up to 30% by 2030. Scottish Widows said its portfolio sits inside the CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF, with Aberdeen managing the growth sub-fund and IP Group managing the venture portfolio, and named four companies expected to be first investments. Scottish Widows did not disclose an amount, so the allocation is undisclosed.

The comparison

Set side by side, the structures differ. Nest's sleeve has one named manager and a published starting amount, which is £200 million, about 0.3% of a scheme it describes as £68 billion, on our arithmetic. Scottish Widows' portfolio has two layers of manager and no published amount. Both are far from a pension investment team reading fund decks. We reported Nest's HarbourVest private equity mandate passing £2 billion, which is another case where Nest works through a manager, and that UK pension providers hold £22.1 billion in private markets under the Mansion House Accord, so the pattern spans more than one pension.

Step one: identify who decides

For a pension that invests through intermediaries, the decision sits with the appointed manager's team: Schroders Capital's private equity team for Nest's sleeve, and IP Group for Scottish Widows' venture portfolio. The pension's own investment staff set the mandate and monitor it. A pitch aimed at the pension's investment committee mostly reaches the wrong audience. Write down, for each pension, the appointed manager, the person who leads the strategy, and the sentence in the announcement that describes the mandate.

Step two: pitch the follow-on gap

Scottish Widows' partners said the mandate addresses a shortage of follow-on funding for UK companies. If you run a venture growth fund, the relevant question is whether the appointed manager invests alongside funds in later rounds. Co-investment is a likelier fit than a fund commitment, though nothing published says whether either manager commits to external funds. Ask directly, and frame your approach around a named company and round, not around your fund's overall pitch.

Step three: fit the theme and the geography

Nest stressed UK-based unlisted companies, and Scottish Widows named quantum computing, batteries and AI-enabled healthcare. A fund with no UK exposure should not pitch either. A fund with UK exposure should say, in the first paragraph, how many portfolio companies are UK-based, expressed as a share of both capital and count, so the reader does not have to work it out.

Step four: prepare for the questions of a pension-backed portfolio

Money that belongs to workplace savers brings questions on valuation policy, reporting frequency and how a company could be sold or listed. Prepare answers in your due diligence questionnaire before the meeting, and be ready to explain how you value positions between rounds.

Step five: sequence the approach

Start with the appointed manager, not the pension. A first note to the manager's team should carry one named company, one round and one reason the round fits the stated mandate. Only after that conversation is under way does it make sense to mention the pension at all, and then only as context, because the manager reports to the pension and a GP who goes around the manager can damage that relationship. As an illustration of the opening line, not a template from either pension: "Our UK portfolio company in battery technology is raising a follow-on round of a size that suits a venture growth mandate; here are the terms and the lead investor." Keep numbers in a message like that to the ones you can prove, and attach the diligence pack only when asked.

What to avoid

Do not quote Nest's £1 billion figure as a pool waiting for you: it is a possible total by 2030, subject to opportunities, and it sits with Schroders Capital's selection. Do not pitch a pension's chief investment officer when the mandate belongs to a manager. Do not claim a relationship you cannot show. For the news behind this playbook, see our report on the Scottish Widows portfolio. FundLinx members can see which institutions are allocating in your strategy.

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