Travers Smith's Alternative Insights: The disruptor is disrupted

Last week in London, Travers Smith hosted its 5th annual Alternative Insights Summit.  Our theme was "disruptors and the disrupted" – a theme which meant we had a lot of ground to cover!  We discussed political and geopolitical disruption – brilliantly covered by speakers that included former Danish Prime Minister and Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and former director of economic policy at the White House, Todd Bucholz.  We also tackled thorny issues closer to home: how to get more pension funds to invest in private assets, how to get more private assets invested in European defence, and whether and how the industry should take money from individual investors.

Dame Anne Glover began the day with a call for UK pension funds to invest more in early-stage venture and growth stage capital. They are missing out on the returns available from backing high growth technology businesses at all stages, she said, especially with the huge potential of AI and quantum computing.