The Mansion House Accord is a voluntary agreement, signed on 13 May 2025, in which 17 of the UK's largest workplace pension providers pledged to invest at least 10% of their defined contribution (DC) default funds in private markets by 2030, with at least 5% of the total in UK assets. The pot in scope is estimated at around £252bn, per Pensions UK, which led the initiative with the ABI and the City of London Corporation.
Private markets, in the Accord's usage, means unlisted equities, property, infrastructure and private debt. Venture sits inside the first of those, which is why a pensions pledge keeps surfacing in startup coverage as a wall of money on its way. The Carry's reading of it: voluntary intentions, a 2030 deadline, some purpose-built plumbing, and one hard delivery number so far.
This page covers what the signatories actually agreed, how the Accord differs from the 2023 Compact, the vehicles being built to carry the money, and what any of it means from an angel's seat.
The number is large, the deadline is 2030, and every word of it is voluntary.
What exactly did the 17 signatories agree to?
Each signatory agreed to aim for at least 10% of its DC default funds in private markets by 2030, with at least 5% of the total invested in the UK. The pledge is voluntary, and the assets it covers are estimated at around £252bn, per the City of London Corporation's announcement.
Two definitions carry the whole thing. A DC default fund is where a workplace saver's money goes when they never pick an investment option, which is most savers; the defaults of 17 large providers therefore hold a substantial share of British retirement saving. Private markets here means unlisted equities, property, infrastructure and private debt, and venture capital lives inside the first category. That is the whole connection to startups.
What the Accord is not matters just as much. It is not law. It binds no trustee to buy anything in particular, and the signatories publish it through Pensions UK as a shared statement of intent, framed around savers' returns and UK growth. Delivery is the open question.
How is the Accord different from the 2023 Mansion House Compact?
The Accord doubles the headline number and widens what counts. Its predecessor, the Mansion House Compact, signed in 2023, committed signatories to place 5% of DC default funds in unlisted equities by 2030. The Accord raises that to 10%, opens the definition to private markets as a whole, and adds a floor of at least 5% of the total for UK assets.
The Compact also produced the one hard delivery figure this storyline has: signatories had invested £1.6bn in unlisted equities under it by October 2025, per the ABI's progress report. Read one way, £1.6bn against a pool in the hundreds of billions is a slow start. Read the other, pledges of this kind are back-loaded by design: mandates take years to write, vehicles take years to build, and the deadline is 2030, not 2026. Both readings are true at once.
The table above puts the two side by side.
How would the pension money actually reach UK startups?
Through vehicles built for the purpose, not through pension schemes writing seed cheques. Three pieces of plumbing matter, each at a different stage.
The furthest along is the British Growth Partnership, established by the British Business Bank to channel pension and institutional capital into UK venture; it announced its first partners and a targeted £200m first close in November 2025, per the British Business Bank. The newest piece is exploratory, and stays labelled that way here: on 27 July 2026, GOV.UK announced that Nest, Railpen and Border to Coast are among the pension funds exploring a £1bn-plus UK fund for growth companies, with the British Business Bank supporting the launch and intending to invest alongside it, and the Office for Investment in support. Nothing is committed. There is no fund yet, no manager and no cheque.
The third leg is retail. From 6 April 2026, Long Term Asset Funds can be held inside a Stocks and Shares ISA, as Investment Week reported. An LTAF is an FCA-authorised open-ended fund built for illiquid assets, venture and private equity included, and the overall ISA allowance stays at £20,000 a year. Same policy direction, arriving at the individual saver rather than the scheme.
What does the Accord mean for UK startups and angel investors?
The near-term effect an angel might actually notice is deeper follow-on capital for growth-stage companies and, further out, more exit demand. It is not competition for seed rounds. Pension capital arrives above the seed market: mandates of this size deploy through funds and platforms writing growth and scale-up cheques, at sizes no seed round can absorb.
That ordering shapes how an angel's book would feel it. A portfolio company that reaches Series B with a deeper domestic pool of growth capital behind it has better odds of raising the next round at home, from investors able to follow on. Capital of that kind is also, eventually, a buyer: growth funds take secondary positions, and the new private-share venues need institutional demand on the bid side to function. That exit-venue half of the story runs through PISCES, the UK's private share market. Nor would the pension money be joining an empty layer: family offices already operate there, and how family offices invest in UK startups maps those routes.
What the Accord does not touch is the angel's own scheme rules. SEIS relief remains 50% on up to £200,000 a year and EIS 30% on up to £1m, individual investors only, per GOV.UK; the rule changes that did land this year are rounded up in what changed for UK angels in 2026.
How should an angel read the Accord?
As a storyline to follow, not a signal to act on. Three tests separate intention from arrival:
- Delivered pounds, not pledged percentages. The Compact's £1.6bn by October 2025, per the ABI, is the baseline. Watch whether reported private-markets investment compounds year on year in the industry's own reporting.
- Vehicles reaching close. The British Growth Partnership moving from a targeted first close to deployed capital; the exploratory scale-up fund becoming a named fund with a manager, or quietly not. Exploration is cheap. Closes are not.
- The 2030 clock. A voluntary pledge with a deadline half a decade out can be honoured late, partially, or in whatever asset mix suits each signatory. Property and infrastructure count towards the 10% just as venture does.
The one reading this page will not offer is the front-running one: the capital has not landed, much of it may never touch the stages where angels write cheques, and a pledge by 17 institutions says nothing about any single company's prospects.
This is general information, not financial advice, and no part of it is a recommendation of any fund, venue or provider. The current rules sit on GOV.UK, and decisions about your own capital belong with an FCA-regulated adviser who can see your whole position.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Mansion House Accord?
A voluntary agreement signed on 13 May 2025 by 17 of the UK's largest workplace pension providers, who pledged to invest at least 10% of their defined contribution default funds in private markets by 2030, with at least 5% of the total in UK assets. The assets in scope are estimated at around £252bn, and the initiative was led by the ABI, Pensions UK and the City of London Corporation. It is a statement of intent, not a legal obligation.
What is the difference between the Mansion House Accord and the Mansion House Compact?
The Compact, signed in 2023, committed signatories to place 5% of DC default funds in unlisted equities by 2030; the ABI reported £1.6bn invested under it by October 2025. The Accord, signed in May 2025, doubles the headline commitment to 10%, widens the definition from unlisted equities to private markets generally (unlisted equities, property, infrastructure and private debt), adds a floor of at least 5% of the total for UK assets, and carries 17 signatories with an estimated £252bn in scope.
Is the Mansion House Accord legally binding?
No. It is a voluntary expression of intent by the signatory pension providers, brokered by industry bodies rather than imposed by statute. No trustee is obliged to buy any particular asset, and progress is tracked through industry reporting, such as the ABI's update on the earlier Compact, rather than by enforcement. The deadline the signatories set themselves is 2030.
What is the British Growth Partnership?
A vehicle established by the British Business Bank to channel pension and institutional capital into UK venture capital. It announced its first partners and a targeted £200m first close on 20 November 2025. It is one of the routes through which Mansion House pledges could turn into invested capital, alongside the exploratory £1bn-plus scale-up fund that Nest, Railpen and Border to Coast said in July 2026 they were considering, which remains uncommitted.
What does the Mansion House Accord mean for angel investors?
Indirectly, potentially a lot; directly, very little today. The capital would arrive above the seed market, through growth and scale-up funds, so the plausible effects for an angel are deeper follow-on rounds for portfolio companies and, in time, more institutional exit demand, rather than competition for seed deals. The pledges are voluntary and the timetable runs to 2030. This is general information, not financial advice: check the current position on GOV.UK and take FCA-regulated advice before making investment decisions.