Workplace pension providers that signed the Mansion House Accord held £11.1 billion in UK private markets at the end of 2025, according to the first progress report on the commitment.
Joint tracking by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Pensions UK found the 17 signatories held £22.1 billion of defined contribution (DC) growth-phase assets in private markets globally as of December 31, 2025. That equates to 6.6% of DC growth-phase assets, with 3.3% in the UK.
The voluntary, industry-led Accord, co-ordinated by the ABI, Pensions UK and the City of London Corporation, aims for signatories to hold 10% of DC default fund assets in private markets by 2030, including 5% in the UK, subject to their fiduciary and regulatory duties.
Most of the UK money has gone into property. Property and real estate, including social and affordable housing, accounted for £8 billion. Infrastructure took £1.3 billion, private debt and credit £0.9 billion, and private equity £0.5 billion.
Signatories have also signed deals to invest a further £3 billion in UK private markets that has yet to be deployed.
Firms are at different stages, the report said. Over the past year, signatories have formed new asset manager partnerships, set up private market vehicles and built in-house investment teams.
The Accord builds on the 2023 Mansion House Compact, under which firms aimed to put at least 5% of DC default funds into unlisted equities by 2030. The two are measured differently and are not directly comparable.
In the ten months to the end of 2025, Compact signatories increased unlisted equity investment in DC default funds from £1.6 billion to £2.7 billion, taking the allocation from 0.6% to 0.85%.
Signatories said the main constraint was a lack of suitable UK investments. As DC funds consolidate and grow, they need a steady supply of large-scale opportunities, alongside government help to remove regulatory barriers and a market shift away from focusing on cost alone.
“Sustaining this momentum will depend on a strong pipeline of investable opportunities and a shift across the workplace pension market away from a narrow focus on cost and towards long-term value for savers,” said Dr Yvonne Braun, director of long-term savings and health and protection policy at the ABI.
Zoe Alexander, chief policy officer at Pensions UK, said the government’s new value for money framework and better co-ordination with public finance institutions should help accelerate private market investment.
The private markets push faces a headwind from the bond market. Moody’s said this month that UK government bond yields have reached levels not seen since 1998. It said high yields are increasing life insurers’ allocations to gilts and slowing investment in higher-risk assets such as private credit.
For pension providers, the figures show steady progress but a long way to go. At 3.3%, UK private market exposure is two-thirds of the way to the 5% target, with five years remaining, and the concentration in property suggests diversification into infrastructure and private equity is still at an early stage.
For employee benefits advisers and employers choosing workplace pension providers, the shift away from comparing on cost alone is significant. If value for money assessments give more weight to investment returns and private market access, adviser recommendations and scheme reviews will need to reflect that.
