Cautious trustees ‘tie the hands’ of pension schemes and hold back growth investment, industry boss says

Workplace pension trustees fixating on low-cost fees “tie the hands of schemes” and make it difficult for them to invest in high-growth companies, the pension trade body has said, after the government s push to get pension money flowing into equities showed minimal progress. Zoe Alexander, chief policy officer at trade body Pensions UK, said the focus on securing ultra-low fees for clients is restricting higher allocation into assets such as private equity and debt. Her warnings came as the pensions industry updated the City on its progress toward the so-called Mansion House Compact and Accord, in which the country s top pension money managers, including Aviva and Aegon UK, said they would allocate a chunk of their assets to private market investments. At the time of the Accord s launch in May last year, then Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the agreement would deliver funding for  major infrastructure, clean energy, and exciting startups . In the update today from the Associ