This is a list of institutional investors in the United Kingdom. Institutional investors manage other people's money by buying shares in companies, corporate bonds, gilts (i.e. government debt), commodities, foreign currencies, or combinations of each, or derivatives of them (i.e. options to buy, or other similar financial contracts. The main kinds of UK institutional investors are,

pension funds (where beneficiaries are saving for retirement) insurance companies (where policyholders are insuring against risk, most importantly life insurance: effectively also a pension) mutual funds (including investment companies, investment trusts, or unit trusts, where people are saving surplus wealth for any purpose) sovereign wealth funds (government funds, often for saving wealth generated by natural resources)

Sovereign wealth funds are a recent addition, and grew following the Asian financial crisis from 1997, becoming important investors in the London Stock Exchange. Fund managers (usually known as investment advisers in the US), who typically belong to the same organisations as those running large mutual funds, play a critical role because normally the "primary" institutional investors delegate investment choices and corporate governance decisions to the fund manager. UK banks do not traditionally play an important role as institutional investors, as they do for instance in Germany.

The Institutional Investor Committee represents the interests of the NAPF, ABI, IMA, AITC and the British Merchant Banking and Securities House Association.

Mutual funds Representing the mutual fund and fund management industry is primarily the Investment Management Association (established in 2002, merging the Institutional Fund Managers Association and the Association of Unit Trusts and Investment Funds). The Association of Investment Companies is also a representation body, with an overlapping membership, but includes only businesses dealing in closed end investment companies.

These are the largest fund managers according to billions of pounds of assets under management.

Nameest.AUM £bnDescriptionWebsiteLegal & General 183625,223British multinational financial services company based in London.lgim.comUBS Global Asset Management 186212,353Investment branch of UBS AG, a Swiss global financial services company.ubs.comBlackRock 198810,142US firm, and world's largest asset manager, formed by Larry Fink and Robert S. Kapito who previously worked at First Boston.blackrock.comBaillie Gifford 19079,439British multinational asset management company based in Edinburgh, Scotland.bailliegifford.comSchroders 18046,994British multinational asset management company.schroders.comState Street Global Advisors 19784,806Founded as part of the State Street Corporation (est 1792), and the world's second largest asset manager.ssga.comNewton Investment Management 4,696newton.co.ukCapital International 19314,099US fund manager.capgroup.comAberdeen Asset Management 19833,628Listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1991.abderdeen-asset.comStandard Life Investments 18253,175Demutualised and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006.www.standardlife.comAllianz Global Investors 1998A part of Allianz SE, German financial services company.www.allianzgi.comInvestec Bank 1974An international specialist banking and asset management group founded in Johannesburg. investec.comThreadneedle Asset Management Acquired by Ameriprise Financial in 2003.columbiathreadneedle.co.ukHenderson Global Investors 1934Has merged with Janus Capital Group in 2017 to create Janus Henderson..comT Rowe Price 1937troweprice.comFidelity International 1969Operates as a private business since 1980, it provides investment management services.fidelityinternational.comM&G Investments 1931Was an autonomous business within the Prudential Group. Became a public company in 2019.mandg.comBarclays Wealth

Pension funds The Association of Member Nominated Trustees and the National Association of Pension Funds are the umbrella bodies representing the interests of pension funds collectively. The number of pension funds largely mirrors the number of companies, as pensions have often not merged on an industry-wide basis.See the 2010 list by the advisory firm Lucia . Many pension funds for local councils fall within the umbrella group of the Local Government Pension Scheme, but as yet there is no consolidated management.

Nameest.AUM £bnDescriptionWebsiteBT Pension Scheme 39.6Universities Superannuation Scheme 38.6Royal Mail Pension Plan 12.4Electricity Supply Pension Scheme Mineworkers Pension Scheme RBS Group Pension Fund Railways Pension Scheme Barclays Bank UK Retirement Fund BP Pension Fund National Grid UK Pension Scheme British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Shell Contributory Pension Fund Greater Manchester Pension Fund 12.6Strathclyde Pension Fund British Steel Pension Scheme Lloyds TSB Group Pension Scheme BBC Pension Trust West Midlands Pension Fund HBOS Final Salary Pension Scheme GSK Pension Schemes .comICI Pension Fund Rolls-Royce Pension Fund .comBA New Airways Pension Scheme .comBAE Systems Pension Scheme .comWest Yorkshire Pension Scheme .comBritish Airways Pension Scheme HSBC Bank UK Pension Scheme .comAviva Staff Pension Scheme .comCo-operative Group Pension Scheme (Pace)

Insurance companies The Association of British Insurers is the umbrella body for UK insurance companies.

Nameest.AUM £bnDescriptionWebsiteLegal & General .comAviva .comPrudential .comOld Mutual .comStandard Life .comResolution .comPhoenix .comAEGON UK .comXL Group .comSt. James's Place plc 1991153.62.comRSA Insurance Group .comQBE Insurance .comDirect Line Insurance .comNFU Mutual .comFM Global .comAXA .comRoyal London Asset Management 1988159.comAllianz SE 1890.comFriends Life 2008Defunct. Acquired by Aviva in 2015..comZurich Insurance 1872.comRoyal London Group 1861159.comHiscox 1901.comLloyds Banking Group 2009173.com Association of British Insurers1985 The ABI is the insurance industry lobbying and coordination body, with around 400 members.www.abi.org.uk

See also UK labour law and UK company law List of unions, and in the UK, Germany and the US List of largest United Kingdom employers FTSE 100 and FT 30, S&P 100, HDAX and DAX List of hedge funds List of private equity firms

Notes