BIA response to the DWP consultation on DC Consideration of Illiquid Assets

The BIA has responded to the Department for Work and Pensions' consultation Defined contribution pensions: investments and consolidation.

In our submission, we said:

• The UK has a thriving life sciences sector, which provides jobs and contributes to the economy, and delivers health and social benefits. We want Britain’s pension savers to be able to back British innovators 
• The public strongly supports medical research and wish to see real-terms growth in their savings but there are currently too few ways for pension savers to access these opportunities 
• We support proposals to increase transparency to aid customer choice by requiring pension schemes to publish their investment strategies in relation to illiquid assets and their implementation 
• The BIA urges the Government to ensure that the charge cap and other requirements linked to fees do not restrict investment in the UK’s innovative industries
• The inclusion of research costs in the charge cap calculation will exacerbate the risks of MiFID II reducing analyst coverage of the UK’s innovative industries