Specifically, the pension funds and insurance
companies that dominate the UK equity
market have long-term payout obligations,
and so might more readily adopt a long-term
perspective on the risks and opportunities
presented by portfolio companies; that is,
they might act as patient capital. Longer-term
thinking about risk is also being encouraged
by the UK government, which is now requiring one type of institutional investor, pension
funds, to disclose the extent to which social,
environmental and ethical considerations are
taken into account in constructing investment