The Twenty Minute VC

Julia Hoggett, CEO @ LSEG plc: The Myths and the Reality of The London Stock Exchange

Dame Julia Hoggett is the CEO of the London Stock Exchange plc. Julia previously worked at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority as Director of Market Oversight and Head of Wholesale Banking Supervision. ---------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode We Discuss: 00:00 Intro 00:49 How to Become CEO of a National Stock Exchange 01:54 Why The Domestic Economy is F***** Despite the Boom in Financial Services 03:05 How Pension Fund Reform Dmaaged the UK Economy 05:50 Should the UK Copy the Canadian Pension Fund Structure 13:27 Will the Best Companies Like Revolut and Monzo List in London 22:06 Why Are Revolut Wrong to Want to List in the US 27:32 Are Companies Priced Lower in the UK vs US 32:43 Why is Stamp Duty a Perversity We Have to Change 34:50 Why is the Way the UK Thinks About Financial Services So Wrong 40:38 Quick Fire Round: Insights and Reflections ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on X: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow LSEG on X: https://twitter.com/LSEplc Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #juliahoggett #lseg #londonstockexchange #ceo #revolut #monzo #stampduty #listing #economics

Julia HoggettguestHarry Stebbingshost

Mar 27, 202548mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Julia Hoggett dismantles London Stock Exchange myths and rebuilding strategy

Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, argues that the UK has world‑class ingredients for growth—capital, universities, and entrepreneurs—but has structurally disconnected its society and pension system from its own capital markets.
She explains how regulation, pension reform, and tax policy (notably stamp duty and cost‑obsessed rules) have unintentionally de‑risked the system, starved UK equities of domestic capital, and entrenched a mistaken belief that the US is always a better listing venue.
Hoggett outlines a five‑part UK reform agenda to modernize listing rules, revive research coverage, consolidate and re‑risk pension funds, and shift regulation toward outcomes and net returns rather than box‑ticking and cost.
Throughout, she pushes back on myths about inferior UK liquidity and valuations, makes the case for reversing perverse incentives like stamp duty, and calls for a cultural reset where Britain celebrates entrepreneurship and “backs itself” again.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Reconnect pensions and retail savers with UK growth companies.

Shift UK pension schemes from fragmented, de‑risked, cost‑capped structures toward larger, sophisticated funds that can invest in portfolios of private and public growth assets, ensuring citizens benefit from domestic innovation and value creation.

Regulation should be outcomes‑based, not process‑obsessed.

Regulators and policymakers must define clear goals—like financially literate, enfranchised retail investors and robust domestic risk capital—and then continually test whether rules are achieving those outcomes rather than just enforcing compliance with processes.

Rethink ‘cheap is good’ in financial services and pensions.

Regulating pensions and asset management primarily on fee levels has suppressed investment in research, private markets, and stock‑picking; shifting to a net‑return and value‑for‑money lens will justify paying for higher‑skill management that earns better long‑term returns.

Challenge myths about US listings automatically being superior.

Data cited by Hoggett show many UK firms that listed in the US underperforming or delisting, lower free‑float turnover in major US indices than in the FTSE 100, and similar like‑for‑like valuations—implying founders should compare concrete indexation, liquidity, and costs, not just narrative.

Phase out stamp duty by pairing reform with new capital inflows.

Because stamp duty on UK shares is both distortionary and fiscally important, Hoggett suggests first boosting domestic equity flows (e.g., via pension incentives and ISA tweaks) so that higher activity partially replaces lost revenue, enabling a tapered removal starting with retail and smaller tickets.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We’ve disconnected society from our capital markets.

— Julia Hoggett

We basically created a world where cheap was good for financial services… that’s not the right way to think about it.

— Julia Hoggett

The perception and the reality are not the same thing when it comes to listing in the US versus the UK.

— Julia Hoggett

Stamp duty is a perversity in the UK. We charge people to invest in UK stocks but we don’t charge them to invest in US or European stocks.

— Julia Hoggett

If you don’t like the system, change the system.

— Julia Hoggett

Disconnection between UK society, retail investors, pensions and domestic capital marketsHistory and consequences of UK pension and regulatory reforms (DB to DC, de‑risking)The UK capital markets reform agenda (“five fingers on a glove”)Reality vs perception of US vs UK listings: liquidity, valuations, index inclusionRole of tax policy and stamp duty in distorting investment into UK equitiesPension fund consolidation, risk appetite, and learning from Canadian/Australian modelsCultural attitudes in the UK: risk, entrepreneurship, CEO pay, and national self‑confidence

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