The insurance and financial services group will offer its pension investors access to startups through the fund, which will target areas including health and fintech.

Insurance and financial services group Aviva’s asset management business launched a venture capital fund today with £150m ($185m) from its parent company.
Aviva Investors Venture & Growth Capital Long Term Asset Fund was formed with an evergreen structure and is intended to give investors across its corporate pension schemes better access to early-stage companies and technologies, Aviva said when announcing its formation today.
The fund is targeting four distinct areas: financial and insurance technology, healthtech, science and technology, and climate and sustainability. It will invest across the UK, North America, Europe, and Aviva said the fund will have a distinct bias towards the UK, where the corporate is based.
The launch of the fund builds on the UK’s Mansion House Compact, which allows the country’s defined contribution pension providers to allocate 5% of assets to unlisted equities such as venture capital and growth equity by 2030.
“Aviva is investing more and more in the UK, to support growth and back Britain’s flourishing early-stage companies,” said Aviva CEO Amanda Blanc. “This new fund will provide vital finance to some of the UK’s most promising, high-growth businesses, aiming to deliver great returns for our customers.”
The contribution from Aviva will come through a combination of cash and assets. Aviva already makes strategic investments through corporate VC subsidiary Aviva Ventures, which was itself absorbed into Aviva Investors last September.