Ten providers already have the £25bn of DC assets required by the government’s new scale test across their entire book according to data in Corporate Adviser’s latest Master Trust and GPP report.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE MASTER TRUST AND GPP REPORT 2026
This leading market report shows that two further schemes — Mercer and Aon, already exceed the £10bn milestone, which is required by 2030, along with a credible plan to reach the £25bn hurdle within five years, to continue in the sector.
The report details the progress being made across the industry to meet these scale targets, which became a legal requirement when the Pension Scheme Act received Royal Assent in Parliament last week.
The report shows that with a growth rate in DC assets of 15 per cent per year over the next four years, one more provider will pass the £25bn threshold and a further five will be over the £10bn milestone by 2030.
However, currently just seven providers had a single default with assets in excess of £25bn.
Overall data in the report shows that Aviva remains the biggest bundled DC pensions provider, with over £155bn in AUM at the end of 2025 — a growth rate of 15.8 per cent over the year.
The report also shows how consolidated the UK DC market is, despite the regulatory push to further consolide assets into fewer larger schemes. Overall the seven biggest providers in the UK now account for over 78 per cent of multi-employer DC assets. This compares to 62.6 per cent of Australian Super assets being held by the biggest eight providers at the end of 2024.
The largest 12 UK providers, all on course to meet the scale test, hold 94.6 per cent of assets, a proportion greater than the largest 21 Australian Supers.
The UK DC sector continues to show exponential growth in assets, in part due to rising contributions and the growing number of employees saving via AE. The report shows that there has been a 5.3 per cent increase in the number of active members within master trust and GPP schemes over the past year. Assets have been further supported by strong investment returns.
The Master Trust and GPP report contains key market data on a range of metrics across the sector. This includes performance data, and for the first time shows which default strategies have performed best and worst over the past 10 year period. The report also contained information on engagement metrics.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE MASTER TRUST AND GPP REPORT 2026
