The UK Government has created a new ‘Supers Unit’ to boost Australian pension investment into energy, housing and infrastructure in the UK.
This dedicated unit will sit within the UK Office for Investment (OFI) and will sit between HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Prime Minister’s Office.
Attracting investment into the UK has been a key objective of this Labour Government in its bid to stimulate economic growth. To this end the Government has introduced the Mansion House Accord, a voluntary agreement with the majority of UK DC workplace pension schemes to encourage investment into private markets in the UK. This was backed by reserve mandatory powers in the recent Pensions Schemes Bill.
Alongside this the Government has also been seeking to attract more investment from overseas investors including large pension schemes.
Australia’s superannuation system is the fourth largest in the world and continues to grow rapidly, with more than 60 cents of every new dollar of retirement savings now invested overseas. Over the next five years, Australia’s pool of superannuation capital is expected to become the second largest outside the United States.
This dedicated unit will be a new point of contact for Australian superannuation funds to help them both identify and progress opportunities to invest in the UK.
This announcement was welcomed by Australian superannuate funds and investors, including IFM Investors — the private markets investor, owned by a number of large Australian Supers, including more recently Nest in the UK.
As of mid-2025, Australian pension funds had invested £41bn in the UK – nearly one in every five dollars invested overseas by these funds. The industry says this supports UK jobs and drives investment across energy, transport, digital and social infrastructure, while also seeking to deliver long-term returns for Australian pension savers.
A number of Australian superannuation funds and investors, including IFM Investors, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and Rest have offices in London and have steadily grown their presence in the UK over time.
Investment in the UK is expected to grow further, with more than £99bn projected to be deployed over the next decade.
The announcement follows Nest becoming an owner of IFM Investors and two recent acquisitions by funds managed by IFM: the agreed acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent equity interest in UK-headquartered renewable energy platform Nala Renewables, and the acquisition of 100 per cent of Briggs Equipment UK Limited , a leading provider of materials handling and specialist rental equipment across the UK and Ireland.
This follows the signing of the Australia-UK Pensions Investment Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) by Rachel Reeves and Jim Chalmers, last year reinforcing a shared commitment to deepen cooperation and accelerate investment into UK projects.
UK Minister for Investment Lord Stockwood says: “The UK is a thriving business hub, and our Supers Unit will pave the way for vital investment into key UK projects, helping to deliver long-term economic growth while boosting our already strong trade relationship with Australia.
“In an unstable world, our Modern Industrial Strategy is providing international businesses the stability they need to invest in Britain not just for the next year, but for the next 10 years and beyond.”
FM Investors head of global external relations David Whiteley says: “Super is built to deliver workers a decent retirement after years of hard work. This means finding high-quality, resilient opportunities across the world.
“For Australian funds, the UK is a natural partner: it’s a familiar market with a deep pipeline in the energy transition and essential infrastructure, and sophisticated pensions system.
“We will continue to work closely with the UK Government so Australian workers’ retirement savings, alongside UK pension funds such as Nest, can help get quality projects off the ground, support jobs and communities, and deliver long-term returns for workers in retirement.”
AustralianSuper Deputy CIO and Head of International Damian Moloney adds: “AustralianSuper welcomes today’s announcement by the UK Government. The UK has been a key investment hub and base for operations for the Fund for a decade, and we now have more than £29bn of member funds currently invested in the UK and Europe. We look forward to continuing our strong working relationship with the UK Government to ensure the best investment outcomes for the Fund’s 3.7 million members.”
Australian Retirement Trust chief investment officer Ian Patrick says: “As a meaningful global investor, Australian Retirement Trust has an on-the-ground presence in the UK to support us identifying investment opportunities across the UK and Europe that contribute to long-term retirement outcomes for members. We welcome initiatives that help build deeper collaboration between the UK and Australia and further enable us pursue our investment program.”
