In the fast-moving world of asset management, few careers speak to continuity and transformation quite like that of Bill Hughes.
Appointed global head of private markets at Legal & General Investment Management in December 2024, Hughes now commands a business overseeing £65 billion in assets – nearly double that of just five years ago – and is navigating one of the industry’s most strategic pivots.
“It wasn’t so much stepping into someone else’s shoes,” Hughes says of his promotion. “The role didn’t exist before. It came out of the merger of two businesses: Legal & General Capital and what we called the Real Assets division at LGIM.”
Fifty-nine year-old Hughes, soft-spoken but deliberate, has been with the FTSE 100 insurer since 2007 and steered the real assets business for nearly two decades. When LGIM brought its private markets businesses together in late 2024, it was a recognition of how pivotal these areas had become – not just within L&G, but across global finance.
“Private markets have grown up,” Hughes says. “They’re more transparent, more accessible, and in many cases offer better opportunities to deliver purpose and return together.”
Hughes’s career has mirrored the expansion of private markets themselves. After reading geography at Edinburgh university, he entered the workforce in economic development consultancy, before stints at Schroders and Deutsche Bank (now DWS). He joined L&G in 2007, when the company’s private markets footprint was largely limited to real estate.
Today, that real estate portfolio alone stands at £22 billion. Added to that are substantial positions in private credit – bolstered by its 40% stake in sub-investment-grade European lender Pemberton – venture capital, and a growing infrastructure equity book. “Private credit is about the same size as real estate now,” he notes.
Venture capital, by contrast, is still modest at around £300 million but strategically aligned to the UK’s innovation ecosystem, particularly universities. Infrastructure equity, at just under £1 billion, is focused on clean energy and grid transition. In the first quarter of this year, the firm closed its Clean Power Europe Fund with €607 million raised.
Organic Growth, Inorganic Ambitions
Under Hughes, L&G’s private markets business has grown through a mix of internal capability and targeted acquisitions. In late 2024, the firm acquired a minority stake in Taurus, a US-based real estate investment company with a focus on sustainability and retrofit development. L&G quickly moved from stake-holding to deployment, acquiring a multifamily property in Chicago and making a second move in Boston.
“We’re building a model that allows us to grow both globally and across asset types,” he says. “Where we don’t yet have deep expertise, we’ll look to partner or acquire.”
That ambition is underpinned by a publicly-stated target: £85 billion in private market AuM by 2028 — up from £65 billion today. That trajectory would represent nearly 50% growth in just four years and push the division close to 10% of L&G’s total £1.1 trillion under management.
In mid-2024, L&G launched its Private Markets Access Fund an LTAF (Long-Term Asset Fund) structured vehicle aimed at defined contribution pensions. “We passed £1 billion in that vehicle quite quickly,” Hughes says, calling it a market leader in its space.
That was followed by the launch of a £500 million Affordable Housing Fund, which formalised nearly a decade of internal capital deployment into the residential sector. The fund focuses exclusively on affordable housing, acquired via Section 106 agreements and other socially driven routes.
“We’ve been investing in residential housing for some time, but 2024 was the year we opened it to external investors,” Hughes notes. “It’s one of the ways we’re showing that private markets can deliver both impact and performance.”
In parallel, L&G has steered clear of certain fashionable trends — most notably private equity. “Our CEO was clear in June 2024: we’re not going into private equity,” Hughes says. “There are reputational issues there, and frankly, lots of players already doing it well. We’re focusing on what we do best.”
Nevertheless in May, L&G acquired a majority stake in $3.5bn US-headquartered private equity firm Proprium Capital Partners, saying the acquisition would boost its real estate portfolio in Asia and Europe.
Antonio Simoes, L&G’s group chief executive, said earlier this year that that the firm, would not be making further acquisitions in private credit while valuations remain too high. However, in July L&G struck a private credit partnership with US alternatives giant Blackstone which is hoped could be worth up to $20bn by the end of the decade.
Sector and Regional Opportunity
While US and UK assets have long dominated L&G’s private markets portfolio, Hughes sees Europe as the next frontier. “We believe now is a very good time to be investing in real estate,” he says. “Markets have corrected in most regions, and you’re starting from a healthier base.”
Residential, logistics and life sciences are top of mind. “We’re particularly interested in data centres and hoteling in Europe,” Hughes adds, while noting that office investments remain fraught. “There’s a real divergence. Offices in Europe are faring better than the US, where return-to-office has been slower.”
The growing demand for digital infrastructure is another area of strategic growth. “We define that as data centres, fibre-optic and towers,” Hughes says. “It’s a space where we already own assets and will be expanding capability.”
The thematic framework driving much of L&G’s investment outlook includes what Hughes calls the “Four D’s”: *Demographics, Decarbonisation, Digitalisation and Deglobalisation. Each points to long-term shifts that underpin investment theses in housing, renewables, tech infrastructure, and supply-chain resilience.
“We’ve seen these trends intensify post-pandemic, post-Ukraine, and amid US-China trade tensions,” he says. “Even China is now talking about supply chain self-sufficiency. Deglobalisation is very real.”
The Mansion House Compact
The Mansion House Compact, recently rebranded under its second iteration, calls for UK pension funds to increase their private markets exposure to 10% by 2030. Hughes is a signatory and supporter.
“We welcome the push,” he says. “It’s important to stress that this must always align with fiduciary duty, but we believe private markets offer both strong returns and societal benefit.”
That dual objective — return and purpose — is something of a mantra. “If you get the governance right, if you have control and expertise, you can shape assets that deliver impact and income.”
Headcount across the private markets team now stands at around 400 — up from 80 when Hughes joined nearly 18 years ago. Growth has been both organic and acquisitive, with the merger of Legal & General Capital and LGIM Real Assets catalysing a more unified approach.
By 2027, the group, whose profits rose 6% in the first half, will move into new headquarters on Coleman Street — a modern retrofit just 100 yards south of the firm’s current London Wall headquarters. “We needed an upgrade, but we also wanted to stay close to where our people are,” Hughes says. “This part of London is so well connected — it just made sense.”
“Private markets used to be niche. They’re not anymore,” he reflects. “This is where capital meets purpose, and we intend to lead from the front.”
