Canada’s $3.2tn pension system is a major private equity investor with 22 per cent of its public sector funds’ assets allocated to the asset class, according to think-tank New Financial.

Several UK banks like HSBC and Barclays have publicly reaffirmed their DEI commitments and representation targets. Yet the language they use has subtly shifted in many cases, switching to words like “goals”, “ambitions” or “aspirations” instead of “targets”, according to Yasmine Chinwala , partner at the New Financial think tank.

The success of these measures is clear from the increase in how much of their household assets Swedes hold in equities and investment funds. This rose from 32 per cent in 2002 to 50 per cent in 2021, according to New Financial, the London-based think tank.

UK pension schemes have among the lowest proportion of funds held in domestic stocks and private assets of any significant global pension market, according to think-tank New Financial, with just 4 per cent of assets held in domestic equities compared with a global average of 10 per cent.

Think-tank New Financial estimated that UK pension funds have slashed their allocation to UK equities from just over half of all assets in 1997 to 4.4 per cent today — among defined contribution schemes the proportion is higher, at 8 per cent.

According to the think-tank New Financial, a mere 8% of funds in United Kingdom defined contribution pensions are invested in United Kingdom equities - far behind the levels found in analogous economies.

UK pension funds allocate just 4.4% to UK stocks, compared with 50% at the turn of the millennium, according to the think tank New Financial.

A report published last month by think-tank New Financial suggested UK banking, finance and capital markets have declined in relative terms in the past decade compared with international markets across nearly 60 metrics of value and activity.

Abrdn, business group the Quoted Companies Alliance, and think tank New Financial launched a report warning that the future of London’s small-cap market could be in jeopardy if the changes go ahead.

New Financial said the biggest challenge for smaller listed companies has been the collapse in demand from the U.K.’s institutional and retail investors.

European equity markets, stock exchanges and financial plumbing known as post-trade infrastructure are a “complex patchwork,” which creates “a huge obstacle to building bigger and better capital markets,” the think tank New Financial wrote in a 2021 report on markets fragmentation.

Women working in finance held 36% of senior positions last year, up from 35% in 2023 and 34% in 2022. The slow progress was attributed to restructuring, low turnover in senior management and hiring freezes, according to the latest report from the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter, compiled by think tank New Financial.

A study by New Financial, a think-tank, last year found that the UK’s DC pension funds invested 2 per cent of total assets in private equity and 2 per cent in infrastructure.

The average allocation to private equity and infrastructure across defined contribution pension funds is only 4 per cent, according to think-tank New Financial.

William Wright, founder and managing director at the New Financial think-tank, said media and political scrutiny have a tendency to "default to consumer protection", which forms part of the primary objective of the FCA.

The country’s pension funds allocate just 4.4% of their assets to UK equities, down from more than half around the turn of the millennium, according to the New Financial think tank.

There are currently about 30 authorised master trusts and 30 providers of contract-based schemes, with assets of around £130bn and £350bn respectively last year, according to the government and New Financial think-tank.

Only 8 per cent of funds in UK defined contribution pensions are invested in UK equities, according to think-tank New Financial, and British pensions invest far less in domestic equities than in other markets such as Italy and Australia.

The ecosystem for smaller listed companies is now under threat, according to New Financial, the City think tank.

In seven of the past 10 years, more listed small companies have left the UK stock market than joined it, and this trend will continue unless serious action is taken, a new report from think tank New Financial said.