Aviva Investors has created a dedicated venture capital (VC) and strategic capital desk as the firm seeks to expand its presence in private markets.
The move its part of a wider restructure in the firm’s real assets business, which has rebranded as Aviva Investors Private Markets.
The team will be created by moving the Aviva Ventures investment team to sit within its private markets function.
Led by Ben Luckett, VC and strategic capital managing director, the team currently oversees investments in excess of £450m.
The firm said the decision follows the Mansion House announcement in July 2023, which outlined plans to unlock investment into emerging industries, including unlisted companies.
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As part of its foray into private markets, Aviva has rolled out two long-term asset funds (LTAFs) over the last 18 months, including the £1.5bn Aviva Investors Real Estate Active LTAF.
Mark Versey, Aviva Investors CEO, said: “This is a terrific example of Aviva Investors in growth mode. Private markets assets today are severely underrepresented in the portfolios of UK DC pension funds relative to global peers.
“Driven by the UK’s supportive policy environment, which is epitomised by the Mansion House Compact, the scale of the potential investment opportunity is significant.
“With two LTAFs already in the market we are actively looking at how to give clients suitable access to the full breadth of benefits that private markets can offer, including unlisted equities.”
Last month (14 August), the wider Aviva business announced a 14% increase in operating profit in the first six months of the year, jumping to £875m from £765m at the end of 2023.
