The investment subsidiary of Universities Superannuation Scheme has acquired a majority stake in Venn, an investment manager of private credit strategies within the UK residential sector.
USS is the UK’s largest private pension scheme by assets, with nearly £77bn assets under management. The investment is intended to enhance Venn’s capacity to deploy capital across the UK housing market.
The move comes amidst a backdrop of the UK government encouraging greater institutional investment in private markets through initiatives such as the Mansion House Accord, of which USS is a signatory. There is also ongoing debate on government mandating investment into this asset class as part of the Pension Schemes Bill.
Venn currently manages in excess of £10bn across four strategies in the UK, as well as a residential mortgage strategy in the Netherlands. Two of its UK strategies support the development of new homes in the affordable housing and private rental sectors and two of them target access to home ownership for households who are under-served by traditional mortgage products.
Among its various mandates, the firm exclusively operates two separate lending programs on behalf of the UK Government, and deployed over £1.8bn of capital across all mandates in 2025.
Eamon Ray, head of private credit at USS Investment Management, says: “This new partnership reflects USS’s support for the UK residential market, a sector that can deliver high quality, long duration, inflation linked exposure, while also providing valuable housing options across the UK.”
Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2026.
