New Incoming CEO of the National Wealth Fund
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced the new Chief Executive Officer of the National Wealth Fund.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has today announced the appointment of Oliver Holbourn as the new Chief Executive Officer of the National Wealth Fund, to lead it through its next chapter.
Oliver brings more than 25 years of experience across banking, strategy, and public financial investments including CEO roles at RBS International and, formerly, UK Financial Investments.
The National Wealth Fund is the government’s principal investor and policy bank. It is at the forefront of investing public money and mobilising private capital to help deliver on the government’s growth and clean energy missions.
Since its launch in October 2024, the National Wealth Fund has committed £2.5 billion, supporting 10,700 jobs. It also has expanded firepower, with £5.8 billion of additional capital to deploy. The NWF’s economic capital limit has been increased allowing it to take on greater risk, providing greater flexibility over its investments to support more projects to access private finance.
The Chancellor recently set this government’s Strategic Priorities for the National Wealth Fund over this Parliament. Under Oliver Holbourn’s leadership, the National Wealth Fund will enter a new phase of delivering these priorities: significantly increasing the amount of capital it deploys; expanding into new sectors; and trialling Strategic Partnerships with Mayoral Strategic Authorities to develop richer pipelines for regional investment.
This appointment followed a fair and open recruitment process, and he is expected to take up his post on 1 November.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves said:
I would like to congratulate Oliver on his appointment as CEO of the National Wealth Fund.
Oliver brings a wealth of private sector expertise and public service experience to this critical role. His expertise will be instrumental in delivering the government’s growth and clean energy missions.
I would like to thank John Flint for his leadership in successfully transforming the UK Infrastructure Bank into the National Wealth Fund and for laying a strong foundation for its future growth.
Incoming CEO of the National Wealth Fund, Oliver Holbourn said:
The National Wealth Fund has an important role to play in the economic success of the UK; so I am deeply honoured to be taking the reins as Chief Executive at such a pivotal time.
I am excited to get to work – using the NWF’s expertise and resources to partner with businesses, investors, mayoral combined and local authorities, and ministers and stakeholders to mobilise private investment alongside public sector finance. This will help drive sustainable economic growth across the UK and support the clean energy transition.
Chair of the National Wealth Fund, Chris Grigg said:
Oliver is the ideal person to lead the Fund into our next phase. He is passionately committed to our mission, brings a rare combination of senior leadership across both the public and private sectors, and has a background in banking, which is at the heart of what we do.
I look forward to working with Oliver to realise the full potential of our expanded mandate, delivering the Government’s ambitions for growth and clean energy, underpinned by the new Industrial Strategy.
Biography
Oliver Holbourn was until very recently the CEO of RBS International Holdings, a subsidiary of the NatWest Group, where he was on the Group Executive Committee for over four years.
With over 25 years of experience across investment banking, government investments, and strategic leadership. Oliver brings deep expertise in managing capital to deliver public value having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), where he was responsible for managing the government’s shareholdings in RBS, Lloyds and UK Asset Resolution, overseeing complex, high-value shareholdings on behalf of the UK taxpayer.
Earlier in his career, Oliver spent over a decade at Bank of America, latterly as Managing Director of Equity Capital Markets for the UK, Ireland, and South Africa. His career has been defined by a strong track record in financial leadership, capital markets, and public sector engagement.