UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's hopes that pension schemes will put tens of billions of pounds into domestic infrastructure projects look overoptimistic, according to a French business school that warns backing schools and hospitals would expose investors to political risk.

Responding to a "call for evidence" on infrastructure published late last year by the UK Treasury, which referred to "encouraging a stronger role to be played by pension fund investments", French business school Edhec has just published a paper challenging the rationale for pension schemes to put their money into social infrastructure investments, which include schools, hospitals and street lighting.