FCA: Private markets will boost UK growth

Private markets will help the UK achieve economic growth and become the world’s most innovative financial centre by 2035, according to Sarah Pritchard, the new deputy chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Speaking at the Investment Association’s Private Markets Summit, Pritchard (pictured) said that private markets have moved from a niche to “a core part of the financial system”, indicating a “fundamental change in how capital is formed…and how investors are thinking about diversification.”

“The Prime Minister has said economic growth is his number one mission, and last week the government published its Industrial Strategy, with the ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative full-service financial centre by 2035,” Pritchard added.

“Private markets have a key role to play in helping achieve both of those aims.”

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Pritchard cited figures that showed that global private markets assets under management have tripled in a decade to $15.5tn (£11.4tn), while assets in the UK alone have hit £1.2tn.

She called the perception of public and private markets as binary options “outdated”, observing that both markets are increasingly working together, through listed funds, hybrid structures and evolving investment models.

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“That creates complexity, yes. But also opportunity,” she said.

“Opportunity to move beyond silos, and to design a system that works as a continuum – delivering growth, resilience and better outcomes across the board.”

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