It is hard to find a story about Government looking to pension funds to accelerate the near non-existent growth in the UK economy. It is so clear that the public want to invest more in the UK, we want better healthcare, better help from computers, the public want to see good jobs for their children and as those children of today’s pensioners. They want to see the whole of Great Britain benefit.

So , with desperation upon them , the FT turns to its dependable nay voice, the independent consultant.

But some pensions experts remain unconvinced that venture capital is an appropriate investment for retirement funds, noting liquidity and complexity concerns and the government’s own expectations for performance.

Forecasts from the government’s actuarial department show its “private market” model portfolio — with 10 per cent of assets allocated to infrastructure and 5 per cent to private equity — delivered just 2 per cent more over 30 years than its equivalent “baseline” portfolio without exposure to private markets.

“DC savers should be investing in simple, transparent and low-cost assets, not complex, opaque and expensive high-tech start-ups,” said John Ralfe, an independent pensions consultant.

Can someone explain to the public what “complex, opaque and expensive high-tech start ups” mean?

You may find a luddite world of Wilko , Woolworths and Boots the kind of dependable investments that British pension funds have benefited from but they’re either now bust or part of American private markets.

Change happens, AI happens , Quotient Computing happens, we find new ways to keep us alive and happy and all of it is damned difficult. By the end of this year I will be benefiting from a bladder pacemaker that sits under my skin to replicate my brain. Should I , a soon to be pensioner be bleating about wanting my pension to stay clear of the science firms that kept me going?

The North, East, South and West of England Scotland, Wales and North Ireland needs investment so that its residents can have good careers to retire from. Will that happen if we send all the money into low risk , transparent bonds of a few global stocks that have been around long enough for the luddites!

I am happy to see that having paid a visit to Luddite town, we return to common sense.

A study from asset manager Schroders found that between 2009 and 2023, around 10 per cent of venture funds globally failed to grow or preserve their assets, compared with 6 per cent for private equity.

However, almost three times the proportion of early-stage venture funds generated a total return multiple of more than three times the capital invested compared with buyout funds, which invest in later-stage companies.

“Venture investing does not come without risk, but it is the potential for significant outperformance that comes with investing in innovative growth businesses that drives the investment case for pension savers,”

said the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The great successes of our country have been when we have taken opportunities which at the time seemed complex, opaque and expensive high-tech start-ups. The railways we travel on, the great towns of the north and the midlands, the trading centres that sent goods down the Mersey and the Clyde, the manufacturing of the midlands did not happen because entrepreneurs picked simple, transparent and low-cost assets.

Britain didn’t get Great because we bitched about growth.  We grew because we made it happen. Which is what the Government is asking pension funds to do. This article ends up recognising common sense and accepting that the Government are right. British pension funds, the ones we’ve left open, should invest more in science, particularly British science.