James Walton writes for the Evening Standard on whether the Government can expect a return on its new National Wealth Fund

Following Chancellor Rachel Reeves's announcement of the launch of a new National Wealth Fund, aiming to combine public and private capital in order to power green investments and infrastructure development, James Walton, Partner in our Banking & Finance team writes for the 'City Voices' column in the Evening Standard.

In the column, James argues that "while the Government should be under no illusion that it has its work cut out if it is make the NWF a success, [the launch of the fund] is certainly a step in the right direction."

He explains:

Whilst the Government does not want to lose public funds, it must ensure that the businesses who most dearly need the funds on offer by the NWF are able to access them. If the UK has any chance of achieving net zero by 2050, the Government must back those businesses who are going to get us there [...]

"Speed of delivery is also key. In the press release which launched the NWF, it was repeatedly stated that there is ‘no time to waste’, that there was a need to act ‘immediately’ and that there was a need to ‘rapidly set detailed plans in motion’. The reality is that the UK is behind the curve when it comes to investing public funds in green technologies. Other countries have been funding such businesses through their respective sovereign wealth funds for years. However, these schemes are complex. They take time to implement and time to deliver.

Read the full article in the Evening Standard here.