National Wealth Fund

The National Wealth Fund is a UK public finance institution established in October 2024 through the refocusing and rebranding of the UK Infrastructure Bank. It is sponsored and wholly owned by HM Treasury, but is intended to make investment and delivery decisions at arm’s length from ministers. Its purpose is to use public capital to unlock substantially larger volumes of private finance for projects that support economic growth, regional development, energy transition and industrial transformation. The fund is not a conventional sovereign wealth fund built primarily from natural-resource revenues or foreign-exchange reserves. It is better understood as a government-backed national investment vehicle and development-finance institution. Its capital can be deployed through equity investments, loans, guarantees, credit enhancements and lending to local authorities. These tools are intended to address financing barriers that may prevent commercially viable or strategically important projects from reaching construction, while preserving a focus on risk management, additionality and value for money. For the 2024–2029 parliamentary period, the fund’s strategic direction is set by a Statement of Strategic Priorities issued by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Its principal sectors are clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport. Government and fund material identify carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen, ports, gigafactories and green steel as five sub-sectors across which at least £5.8 billion is expected to be committed during the Parliament. The fund has access to up to £27.8 billion of announced public capital for deployment, although this figure represents an authorised capacity rather than money necessarily invested at one time. The clean-energy remit includes enabling infrastructure and projects associated with the transition to a lower-carbon economy. The advanced-manufacturing remit is directed toward capital-intensive industrial capabilities, including battery manufacturing and low-carbon steel. Digital and technology investments are intended to support productivity and the wider economic transition, while the transport and ports remit covers infrastructure needed to move people and goods and to support regional economies. Other activities inherited from the UK Infrastructure Bank, including areas such as water, waste and natural capital, may remain relevant when they align with current shareholder priorities. The National Wealth Fund operates alongside, rather than in place of, other UK public institutions. The British Business Bank focuses primarily on improving finance for smaller businesses. Great British Energy has a power-sector and energy-development role, while the Contracts for Difference framework supports low-carbon electricity revenues. The National Wealth Fund can also interact with bodies such as the National Energy System Operator, UK Export Finance, the Low Carbon Contracts Company and government departments, depending on the nature of a project. Its first widely reported major commitment under the new identity was announced in May 2025: up to £600 million of debt financing for ScottishPower, Iberdrola’s UK subsidiary, to support electricity-grid upgrades as part of a wider financing package involving commercial lenders. The transaction illustrated the fund’s intended role in supporting infrastructure where large-scale private investment is required to expand capacity and connect renewable generation. The institution is governed by a board supported by audit and risk, remuneration, and nominations committees. Chris Grigg serves as chair. Leadership changed during 2025, with Oliver Holbourn announced as the incoming chief executive and Ian Brown serving as interim chief executive until 1 November 2025. The fund publishes annual reports and accounts, is subject to parliamentary and audit scrutiny, and uses an impact framework covering measures such as private capital mobilised, greenhouse-gas effects, jobs and geographic distribution. Supporters argue that the fund can fill financing gaps and help coordinate investment in infrastructure and industrial capabilities that have broad economic benefits. Critics and public-sector analysts have focused on whether it will generate genuinely additional investment, how risks will be shared with private investors, whether the project pipeline is sufficiently mature, and how outcomes will be measured without double counting co-financed capital. Its long-term effectiveness is therefore expected to depend not only on its capital and mandate, but also on planning reform, grid capacity, project preparation, governance and coordination with other public bodies.

The National Wealth Fund developed from the UK Infrastructure Bank, which was established in 2021 as a public institution intended to support regional and local economic growth while helping the United Kingdom address climate change. The bank was given a statutory foundation through the UK Infrastructure Bank Act 2023. Its operating model combined public ownership with an arm’s-length investment function, allowing it to lend, invest and provide guarantees while pursuing public policy objectives. Following a change in government policy, the UK Infrastructure Bank was relaunched as the National Wealth Fund on 14 October 2024. The transition preserved much of the predecessor institution’s financial and organisational base but expanded the policy emphasis beyond infrastructure in the narrow sense. The new institution was designed to support wider industrial transformation and to mobilise private investment in areas where the UK government considered public intervention necessary to unlock growth, decarbonisation or regional development. The fund is sponsored and wholly owned by HM Treasury. Treasury sets the high-level direction through a Statement of Strategic Priorities, while the fund is expected to remain operationally independent in assessing projects and structuring transactions. This balance is central to its model: the institution is meant to implement government priorities without becoming a conventional departmental spending programme. Its governance includes a board and standing committees covering audit and risk, remuneration, and nominations. On 19 March 2025, the Chancellor issued the Statement of Strategic Priorities for the 2024–2029 Parliament. It directed the fund toward clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport. It also identified carbon capture and storage, green hydrogen, ports, gigafactories and green steel as sub-sectors expected to receive at least £5.8 billion of commitments during the period. The fund was additionally authorised to support defence-related activity, although defence was not listed among the principal priority sectors in the published strategy material described for the period. The fund’s financial model is based on catalytic public investment. It can provide equity, loans, guarantees and credit enhancements, as well as lending to local authorities. The policy objective is not simply to hold assets for the state, but to reduce financing barriers and bring institutional and commercial investors into projects that might otherwise be delayed or undersupplied. The government has announced up to £27.8 billion of public capital for deployment, though the headline figure describes the available capacity and should not be read as an amount already invested. Its early activity illustrated the intended approach. In May 2025, the fund announced up to £600 million of debt financing for ScottishPower, the UK subsidiary of Iberdrola, to support grid upgrades within a larger package involving commercial lenders. The commitment was reported as the fund’s largest announced investment at that point and connected the institution’s financing role with the practical need to expand transmission networks as renewable generation grows. The National Wealth Fund works within a wider network of UK institutions. Its capital-intensive, strategic-investment role differs from the British Business Bank’s focus on smaller-business finance. It can complement Great British Energy in the power sector, the Contracts for Difference regime for low-carbon electricity, the National Energy System Operator’s network-planning functions, and UK Export Finance where an eligible export relationship exists. Coordination with departments and other public bodies is subject to subsidy-control, procurement and public-finance rules. The institution’s performance is intended to be assessed through annual reporting, audited accounts and an impact framework. Reported indicators include the amount of private capital mobilised, emissions-related outcomes, jobs supported and geographic distribution. Parliament and the National Audit Office have emphasised the importance of additionality, transparent risk allocation and methods that avoid double counting capital in co-financed transactions. Analysts have also pointed to external constraints, including planning delays, grid capacity, the availability of investable projects and the need to avoid duplicating existing programmes. Leadership changed during 2025. Oliver Holbourn was announced as incoming chief executive, while Ian Brown acted as interim chief executive until 1 November 2025. Chris Grigg chaired the board. As the successor to the UK Infrastructure Bank, the National Wealth Fund entered its longer-term phase with an established institutional base but a broader political and industrial mandate. Its historical significance will depend on whether it can convert that mandate and public capital into additional private investment, measurable regional benefits and durable progress in the UK’s energy and industrial transition.

• 2025

  Strategic priorities issued

  [4]National Wealth Fund Statement of Strategic Prioritiesgov.uk

  The Chancellor issued the Statement of Strategic Priorities for the 2024–2029 Parliament, identifying four principal sectors and five named sub-sectors.

• 2025

  ScottishPower grid financing announced

  [8]ScottishPower grid financing announcednationalwealthfund.org.uk

  The fund announced up to £600 million of debt financing for ScottishPower grid upgrades within a wider commercial financing package.

• 2025

  Incoming chief executive announced

  [9]Incoming chief executive announcedgov.uk

  Oliver Holbourn was announced as incoming chief executive during a transition led on an interim basis by Ian Brown.

• 2024

  National Wealth Fund launched

  [2]National Wealth Fund policy and government publicationsgov.uk

  On 14 October, the government relaunched the UK Infrastructure Bank as the National Wealth Fund and expanded its remit toward industrial transformation and private-capital mobilisation.

• 2023

  UK Infrastructure Bank receives a statutory basis

  [5]UK Infrastructure Bank Act 2023legislation.gov.uk

  The UK Infrastructure Bank Act 2023 placed the predecessor institution’s role on a statutory footing.

• 2021

  UK Infrastructure Bank established

  [7]UK Infrastructure Bank establishedgov.uk

  The predecessor institution was created to support regional economic growth and climate-related infrastructure investment.

A government-backed, arm’s-length national investment institution that uses public finance to crowd in private capital for strategically important UK infrastructure, clean energy and industrial projects.

• Investment instrument · 2024

  Equity investment

  The fund can invest equity alongside private-sector partners in strategically important companies, projects or platforms. Equity participation can help address funding gaps where debt alone is unsuitable, share development risk and demonstrate public support for emerging industrial or clean-energy markets. Transactions are expected to be structured with attention to commercial discipline, additionality and value for money.

• Infrastructure finance · 2024

  Loans and debt finance

  Loans and other debt structures provide capital for infrastructure and industrial projects that require substantial long-term financing. The fund may participate directly or alongside commercial lenders, using its public balance sheet to improve the bankability of projects, extend available tenor or help assemble a larger financing package.

• Risk-sharing instrument · 2024

  Guarantees and credit enhancements

  Guarantees and related credit enhancements are intended to reduce specific financing risks and encourage private lenders or investors to participate. These instruments can be useful for projects with strong strategic value but unusual construction, revenue or technology risk. Their use is subject to the fund’s risk framework and public-sector value-for-money requirements.

• Public-sector finance · 2024

  Local-authority lending

  The fund can provide targeted lending to local authorities for eligible infrastructure and growth-related activity. This channel extends the predecessor bank’s regional-development role and is intended to help local government bodies finance projects that support local economies, climate objectives or enabling infrastructure.

• 2025

  Adopt strategic priorities for the 2024–2029 ParliamentStrategy

  Background

  The fund required a formal shareholder direction covering the Parliament’s investment objectives, sectors and relationship with other public finance bodies.

  Action taken

  On 19 March 2025, the Chancellor issued a Statement of Strategic Priorities focused on clean energy, advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, and transport, with five named sub-sectors.

  Aftermath

  The statement established the policy framework against which the fund’s investment pipeline, impact reporting and parliamentary scrutiny would be assessed.

  Source

• 2025

  Provide debt financing for ScottishPower grid upgradesOther

  Background

  Transmission and distribution upgrades are needed to connect additional renewable generation and expand electricity-system capacity.

  Action taken

  The fund committed up to £600 million of debt financing to ScottishPower as part of a wider package arranged with commercial lenders.

  Aftermath

  The transaction became the fund’s largest publicly reported commitment at that point and demonstrated its intended role in crowding in private infrastructure finance.

  Debt financing commitment. Up to £600 million (Announced 8 May 2025)

  Source

• 2024

  Refocus and relaunch the UK Infrastructure Bank as the National Wealth FundStrategy

  Background

  The government sought to broaden the predecessor bank’s contribution from infrastructure finance toward industrial transformation and the mobilisation of private capital.

  Action taken

  On 14 October 2024, the government launched the National Wealth Fund and set out a wider mandate while retaining an arm’s-length operating model under HM Treasury sponsorship.

  Aftermath

  The institution inherited the UK Infrastructure Bank’s foundation but gained a broader set of strategic sectors and a larger stated public-capital deployment capacity.

  Announced public capital available for deployment. Up to £27.8 billion (From October 2024)

  Source

1. 1National Wealth Funden.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Wealth Fund policy and government publicationsgov.uk
3. 3National Wealth Fund official websitenationalwealthfund.org.uk
4. 4National Wealth Fund Statement of Strategic Prioritiesgov.uk
5. 5UK Infrastructure Bank Act 2023legislation.gov.uk
6. 6UK Parliament Treasury Committeecommittees.parliament.uk
7. 7UK Infrastructure Bank establishedgov.uk
8. 8ScottishPower grid financing announcednationalwealthfund.org.uk
9. 9Incoming chief executive announcedgov.uk