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National Wealth Fund Limited has opened early talks with suppliers on an investment management solution to handle substantial public capital and risk, signalling how a public fund plans to support UK Government priorities.

Scoping a core investment management solution

On 23rd December 2025, National Wealth Fund Limited published a prior information notice titled Early Market Engagement for Investment Management.

The notice sets out plans to engage with the market “to gather input for an investment management solution that supports various financial operations and risk management, with plans to share related documents and timelines in November 2025.” Although detailed requirements are not yet available, the wording points to a multi-faceted platform that will sit at the heart of how the fund deploys and oversees its capital.

The investment management solution is expected to underpin:

day-to-day financial operations, likely spanning several business processes within the fund; and
the monitoring and management of investment risk across its activities.

The fund is positioning the procurement as central to delivering substantial allocations of public capital in line with UK Government strategic priorities. That makes the eventual specification of the system, and the services around it, important for organisations working at the intersection of investment management and public finance.

Early engagement as a tool for managing financial risk

Rather than move straight to a formal tender, the National Wealth Fund is following a pattern that has become increasingly common across the public sector: using early market engagement to test options, understand supplier capability and shape the commercial approach before locking in requirements.

In the same period, several other buyers have taken a similar route for complex financial and assurance work.

On 12th December 2025, the NHS Business Services Authority issued a prior information notice for a Financial Assurance Framework, seeking commercial and financial assurance advisers to support major transformation programmes and enhance future business functions.
On 8th December 2025, Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation began preliminary engagement on End to End Debt Management, consulting suppliers and customers on non-regulated debt management processes across local authorities and other public bodies.
On 26th August 2025, NHS England used a prior information notice for the ONE NHS Finance Programme to gather market feedback on support services aimed at strengthening finance departments.
On 3rd November 2025, the Department for Education sought views from potential fund managers and investors through its Early Education Fund Manager Engagement, focused on a blended finance facility for expanding early education and childcare services for disadvantaged children.

These examples underline how early engagement has become part of the risk-management toolkit for public bodies dealing with complex financial operations. By sounding out the market first, buyers can test whether proposed models are realistic, understand how suppliers structure similar services elsewhere, and refine requirements in areas such as reporting, control frameworks and service governance.

For the National Wealth Fund, this approach is particularly important. The organisation is expected to channel substantial capital in support of UK Government priorities, making the design of its investment management environment central to transparency, accountability and value for money.

Digital platforms at the core of public operations

Although the National Wealth Fund notice focuses on investment management, it sits within a wider wave of procurements where digital platforms and data are treated as critical infrastructure for delivering public objectives.

On 18th July 2025, Natural Resources Wales launched market engagement for a new Digital, Data and Technology Services Framework, inviting suppliers to help shape its commercial strategy.
On 11th September 2025, Wolverhampton City Council opened an eProcurement market engagement, seeking input on eProcurement, pipeline management and contract management solutions.
On 20th August 2025, the University of West London issued a prior information notice for an Examinations Workflow Management System, covering scheduling, booking and results management for music and communication assessments.
On 12th November 2025, the further education sector in Northern Ireland began engagement on a new Learner Management System and Online Portal.

Across these initiatives, buyers are asking similar questions: how can technology support core operations from end to end; what data needs to be captured and shared; and how should long-term support and change be managed?

The National Wealth Fund’s investment management project raises the same issues, but with the added complexity of investment risk and public accountability. While the notice stops short of specifying technical architecture or operating models, the emphasis on a single solution that can support “various financial operations and risk management” points to an integrated platform where data, controls and workflows must work together.

Strategic funding tools across government

The fund is only one part of a wider move towards more structured use of funds and facilities to deliver policy aims.

On 16th December 2025, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced market engagement for a Policy Facility in Zambia, designed to enhance agricultural productivity and natural resource management.
On 25th November 2025, a market engagement run by BIP Solutions Limited invited providers with web design and development expertise to help build a web-based platform for the energy, water and waste sectors to enhance engagement and support the UK’s energy transition.
On 23rd December 2025, Wrexham University published a notice on Market Engagement for Advanced Wireless Funding, seeking organisations with expertise in advanced connectivity solutions to support a potential funding application under the Ambition North Wales Advanced Wireless initiative.

Taken together, these notices show public bodies using targeted funds, facilities and platforms to deliver outcomes that range from decarbonisation and infrastructure to international development and education. The National Wealth Fund’s forthcoming investment management procurement sits within this landscape, with a particularly direct role in deploying capital in support of UK Government priorities.

What to watch next

The National Wealth Fund’s notice indicates that it plans to share related documents and timelines in November 2025. If further materials are released, they could give the market a clearer view of:

the breadth of financial operations the solution will need to support;
how responsibility for ongoing risk management might be shared between the fund and its suppliers; and
the likely commercial structure and duration of any future contract.

The engagement also forms part of a continuing shift towards structured pre-market consultation for major public procurements, visible not just in financial services but also in areas such as waste management, infrastructure and digital services. Recent examples include Western Riverside Waste Authority’s Market Engagement for Waste Management notice of 8th December 2025 and East London Waste Authority’s Food Waste Management Engagement published on 1st September 2025. Suppliers will be watching to see how the National Wealth Fund translates this early engagement into a formal procurement, and how far its eventual solution helps to shape future approaches to managing public investments.

Early engagement notice tests market for new investment management hub