UK savers may soon have direct access to private equity investments through their defined contribution pension schemes, following similar initiatives in the US.

Private equity has traditionally been the preserve of large institutional investors, including defined benefit pension funds, but alternative fund managers have been working hard to make private equity funds an option in DC plans - known as 401k - in the US in the past year. Pantheon, the $30 billion private equity fund of funds manager and one of the first movers in the US, has now initiated the process in the UK.