Top bosses from Aviva, Equitix and Brunel Pensions are also involved, giving an indication of the type of institutional investors Labour is courting.
Once raised, the fund could be used to invest in Labour’s priorities, particularly low-carbon manufacturing in poorer areas of Britain as a new variant of levelling up.
However, the investment banker says: “This is more like an investment fund, but it is not clear why, if these are good investments, the private sector would not be backing them already.”
The Institute for Public Policy Research, a Left-leaning think tank, has suggested a system of joint ventures in which the Government invests with businesses to build new factories that would not have existed without the support.
Effectively, this would mean subsidies to make heat pumps, wind turbines or car batteries in deprived parts of the country in a manner Reeves could compare to the wave of US and EU aid for the same industries.
The think tank argues that giving the Government a minority stake in each company would spread the state’s cash further while injecting some commercial discipline.
“The joint ventures with private players would ensure the long-term economic viability of the investment projects,” said the IPPR’s report.
“Funding would aim to reduce regional economic inequalities preferencing investment projects in places in need of ‘levelling up’.”
This is closer to the industrial strategy of Theresa May combined with Boris Johnson’s levelling up – with a Labour price tag.
Those close to the policy suggest Reeves wants to focus on boosting regional industry first to create jobs and growth.
“Yes it would be nice if it makes a return, but the first and foremost objective should be investing in green manufacturing, and increasing our economic activity,” says a source.
However, a lack of focus on financial returns raises the question: why would private sector money managers, who have a fiduciary duty to their own investors, back such a fund?
“What will the Government offer investors?” says the bank executive. “It can only be tax breaks.”
Doubts abound – can you really rely on a national wealth fund when the nation is not wealthy? Reeves is clearly hoping her canny workaround will not prove too clever by half.
