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Date updated: 15/11/2022

Financing our Future outlines Lord Mayor Nicholas Lyons’ Mayoral Priorities for 2022/2023 focusing on the Growth Economy, Global Investment Futures, Sustainable Finance and Financial Inclusion.

During his year as Lord Mayor, Alderman Lyons will champion Financing our Future, promoting a resilient, resourceful and responsible city, deploying capital and expertise to supercharge economic growth nationwide and grow our global competitiveness.

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Financing our Future

Financing our Future will drive growth and investment especially in the areas of long-term infrastructure lending, green and sustainable financing, boosting the early-stage growth economy by mobilising private savings and pension funds, and attracting international asset owners to have more of their money managed by asset managers in the UK. All of which will be underpinned by a commitment to financial inclusion for all.

The Mayoral Priorities for 2022 -2023 will promote a:

  • Resilient City: Ensuring the City can deal with future shocks, manage risk and be a global hub for insurance.
  • Resourceful City: Attracting and retaining the best talent, research, skills and innovation so that we can be agile and adaptable to new opportunities.
  • Responsible City: Showing how responsible and sustainable business, investment and financial and professional services (FPS) sector contribute to the health and wellbeing of the national economy and our communities.

At the heart of this agenda will be growing and supporting the UK FPS tech sector, as well as other high growth businesses, to scale more rapidly and compete internationally, by engaging domestic and overseas investors in growth capital investment and creating a positive ecosystem for early-stage investment. A Growth Capital Initiative to be chaired by the Lord Mayor will make London the destination where high growth companies can access the investment they need, at any stage of their journey and retain and list in the UK.

Ensuring that the UK is open and globally competitive, we also need to ensure that the UK is a global gateway for FPS business and that we strengthen and promote a world class business environment which has unparalleled global access to talent, firms, capital and export capacity. ​Increasing our share of assets under management through a targeted asset management campaign will help to shape our global competitiveness and Finance our Future. The Lord Mayor will lead the Global Investment Futures Asset Management Campaign.

Financing our Future also means growing the UK as world leader in sustainable finance. We need to position the UK as a one-stop shop; the go-to partner for countries and companies, looking for capital and expertise, to help them meet their sustainability goals. The Lord Mayor will showcase the UK offer and leadership in green finance and finance for impact.

Underpinning Financing our Future will be a focus on the need for better financial education to help people improve their mastery of money and in turn, improve their social mobility and life prospects. Research has shown that 90% of people learned nothing or not much about finance in school, and that 88% of teachers feel unqualified to deliver financial literacy. The Lord Mayor will champion financial inclusion for all to help ensure people are able to Finance their Future.

Financing our Future will be brought together through five key deliverables that will form the focus of the activity for the Mayoralty, working closely with the Policy Chairman to collectively drive the global competitiveness of the UK:

  1. Lead the Growth Capital Initiative, working with Innovate Finance and the London Stock Exchange, to make London the destination where high growth companies can access the investment they need, at any stage of their journey
  2. Chair the Global Investment Futures Campaign Steering Group in association with the Investment Association and Department for International Trade to increase the UK share of assets under management including hosting the Global Investment Management Summit and promoting the campaign internationally.
  3. Be an ambassador for the City and UK’s leadership in green and impact finance and the Sustainable Finance Framework including through COP27 & COP28, the proposed annual Net Zero Delivery Summit and the outputs of the City’s Finance for Impact Initiative.
  4. Champion long term sustainable investment into infrastructure, housing and schools, demonstrating the role of UK FPS in building back better and levelling up, delivering both financial and social purpose.
  5. Promote financial education in order to help people improve their mastery of money and in turn, improve their social mobility through the Financial Literacy Inclusion Campaign (FLIC) project and National Numeracy as a partner of The Lord Mayor’s Appeal and in hosting a Financial Inclusion Summit at Mansion House in 2023. 
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