Phoenix Group Holdings PLC (LSE:PHNX) has reportedly snapped up a 5% stake in venture capital firm Hambro Perks to enable pension investors to get access to private company investments.
The FTSE 100 closed life assurance fund consolidator, which in July was among the group of major pension schemes that agreed to commit 5% of their default funds to unlisted equities by 2030, confirmed the deal in a statement on Friday, but did not say the size of the stake or how much it had paid.
But the Financial Times reported the investment was 5% and could increase to 10% over time.
James Mitchell, Phoenix's head of strategic partnerships, said the deal gives its pension investors "access to the potential returns of a broader range of assets", including "some of the fastest growing and most innovative companies in the UK and overseas".
The life insurer told the FT it was doing the deal to provide access to private companies for defined contribution (DC) pensions against a background where fewer private companies are listing their shares, part of a de-equitisation trend that has been going on for several years.
UK pensions are also moving away from defined benefit pension schemes maintained to a required level by employers to DC schemes where workers' final pensions depend on the performance of investments.
Hambro Perks co-founder Dominic Perks resigned from his role at the company's London-listed SPAC Hambro Perks Acquisition Company Ltd (LSE:HPA1) in April, a decade after setting up the firm.
In the past 10 years, it has backed over 130 companies, with current investments including retail investors fundraising platform PrimaryBid, geolocation app What3words, credit score platform Clearscore, EV charging software developer Driivz, investment platform startup Moneybox and AI-powered biotech platform Pangaea. Alongside its flagship venture capital fund, which backs technology companies in early stages of development, Hambro Perks also has offerings such as a fund for buying secondary shares and a vehicle focused on emerging environmental technologies.