By Charlie Conchie
Australia’s biggest pension fund is set to pump another £8bn into the UK in the coming years in a boost to Jeremy Hunt ahead of the budget this week.
In an announcement this evening, the Treasury said that the fresh injection will lift AustralianSuper’s investment into the UK to over £18bn by the end of the decade.
The deal comes after Hunt, who has previously praised the scale of Australia’s mammoth pension funds, met with the chief of AustralianSuper in London this afternoon to discuss the plans.
“This major investment from AustralianSuper will promote growth and strengthen the UK’s position as a leading financial centre, creating wealth and helping to fund public services,” Hunt said in a statement.
“Britain continues to be Europe’s leading hub for investment, and it is through commitments like this that we will funnel billions into our brightest, burgeoning businesses to scale up and grow.”
AustralianSuper has around £150bn in assets under management and has had a presence in the UK since 2016. It has invested some £8bn into the UK, with holdings of around £2.5bn in UK listed equities, according to the Treasury.
Among its UK investments are a stake in Heathrow Airport and Kings’ Cross redevelopment projects. The firm was reportedly eyeing up a £23bn investment spree across the UK and Europe back in 2022.
The cash commitment comes as the latest investment pledge from down-under in the past year after Australian funds IFM Investors and Aware Super committed to pumping a cumulative £15bn into the economy ahead of the global investment summit in November.
Hunt is looking to overhaul the rules around pension investment in the budget on Wednesday in a bid to encourage more investment from domestic funds.
In a slew of planned changes on Saturday, Hunt said the government would roll out rules to force pension funds to disclose how much of their cash is invested in the UK.
