By early 2027 the UK is set to become the first G7 country to issue a digital sovereign bond, with plans for future issuance to come, according to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in her third annual Mansion House speech.
This sort of bond uses distributed ledger technology such as blockchain rather than traditional financial market infrastructure to operate. Previous countries to issue such a bond include the Philippines and Slovenia.
In 2025, Reeves oversaw the signature of the Mansion House Accord, in which signatories committed to allocate at least 10 per cent of assets in main DC default funds to private market investments by 2030. As part of the Pension Schemes Act, the government now has powers to mandate schemes to hit this target if deemed necessary.
Reeves says: “Last year, our largest pension funds invested an additional £10bn into private markets because of the changes that I have made, and insurers are well on the way to delivering their £100bn investment pledge, with £17bn invested into UK assets to date.”
This is widely expected to be Reeves’ last Mansion House speech as Chancellor, with incoming prime minister Andy Burnham likely to replace her in the role, as well as making changes to other senior Cabinet positions.