USS pension fund performance to March 2026: the Growth Fund beat its one-year target but trailed over five years; the DB fund beat its liabilities over three years. Past returns are no guide.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme invests the money that pays university staff pensions, and it publishes figures on its size, its holdings and its returns. Each figure below is dated, because they move. Want your USS membership weighed against your other savings? Free and by phone, an FCA-authorised adviser can do just that, starting from what you send through the form on this page.
How big is the USS pension fund?
USS's Report and Accounts for the year to 31 March 2026, published in July 2026, put the defined benefit net investments at £80.0bn, up from £73.3bn a year earlier, and the Investment Builder's at £4.2bn (excluding legacy AVCs). Its 2026 climate report gives total assets under management of £84.2bn at 31 December 2025 and calls USS "the UK's largest private defined benefit (DB) pension scheme by assets".
The two sizes matter for different reasons. The defined benefit money sits behind the Retirement Income Builder, the guaranteed part. The defined contribution money is the Investment Builder, the savings part, where members' pots rise and fall with the funds they hold. USS's quarterly investment report gave £4,653m in Investment Builder assets under management at 30 June 2026. Assets under management is a total of investments, not a promise about any one member's pension.
Where does the USS pension fund invest?
USS Investment Management Limited, its in-house team, oversees the money, alongside external managers it selects and monitors. For the defined benefit part, USS's 2026 Report and Accounts sets out the portfolio at 31 March 2026:
| Holding | Share of portfolio at 31 March 2026 (%) |
|---|---|
| Growth assets (public equities 37.9, commodities 2.4, private growth 5.2, infrastructure 9.5, real estate 4.4) | 59.4 |
| Credit (public 11.5, private 11.0) | 22.5 |
| Liability matching | 40.0 |
| Net leverage | (21.9) |
The last line is negative, so the rows add to 100 only once it is taken off. USS's 2026 report says around 30% of the defined benefit fund is in private markets, about half of it in the UK, and that the Investment Builder's Growth Fund has a 25% allocation to them. For April to June 2026, its quarterly Investment Builder report called private-market performance mixed: private credit and infrastructure produced positive returns, while private equity "detracted from overall performance". One quarter says little about the long run.
Investment Builder members choose between two routes. In the Do It For Me route, the default lifestyle option starts in the USS Growth Fund and, beginning 10 years before target retirement age, moves gradually through blends of the Moderate Growth, Cautious Growth and Liquidity funds. In the Let Me Do It route, you pick from 10 funds, including ethical ones.
How has the USS pension fund performed?
For the defined benefit part, USS measures itself against a liability proxy, which tracks the estimated present-day value of future pensions. Its 2026 report says that over the five years to 31 March 2026 the Retirement Income Builder returned minus 0.2% a year, partly because of its hedging assets, yet outperformed the liability proxy by 11.7% a year; over three years the margin was 9.4% a year. Those margins are comparisons with a yardstick, not returns you could earn. Over the same three years, the report adds, the fund trailed the average of its comparator portfolios by 2.7% a year, while its growth assets returned 9.5% a year. The trustee's investment committee judged 2025 performance on target across both parts of the scheme.
For the Investment Builder, USS reports each fund against a target or benchmark. To 31 March 2026, after the employer subsidy:
| Fund | 1 year (%) | Target, 1 year (%) | 5 years a year (%) | Target, 5 years a year (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growth Fund | 12.6 | 6.3 | 7.0 | 8.2 |
| Moderate Growth Fund | 9.7 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 7.2 |
The Growth Fund's aim is a return of CPI plus 3.0% a year over the long term. Three months later, at 30 June 2026, USS said the fund was ahead of that target over one and three years, "with the underperformance over the last five years driven by a period of elevated inflation". The March 2026 table tells the same story: ahead over one year, behind over five. Neither is a forecast.
Values can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than you paid in. USS's own reports say past performance is not a guide to future performance. If you are unsure the funds in your pot fit your plans, the short enquiry form here can arrange a no-cost conversation with an FCA-authorised adviser.
Is USS fully funded?
On USS's provisional 2026 valuation results, announced on 15 July 2026, the scheme has "a £16.9bn surplus (127% funded, compared to £7.4bn / 111% funded at the 2023 valuation)". A surplus means estimated assets exceed the estimated cost of the pensions already promised, on the prudent basis the law requires. The valuation date is 31 March 2026 and the figures are provisional: USS's trustee considers the response of UCEA, the employers' body, before concluding the funding position and contribution rate, and the Joint Negotiating Committee then decides how any change is split between members and employers or whether future benefits change. USS's timetable planned to confirm the position in October 2026, so check its valuation pages for the confirmed figures.
The contribution rate for the future is a separate decision, and the current rates are on the contributions page, and whether the scheme suits you is on the page asking if USS is good.
What does USS charge to invest?
For the Investment Builder, USS says employers meet administration costs, a notional 0.20% a year of a member's fund, and subsidise investment costs up to 0.30% a year. In practice, it says, the charges on all the funds are covered for money built from normal and additional contributions. Money transferred in from other schemes, apart from certain legacy Prudential AVC transfers, does not get the investment charge subsidy. The Growth Fund's page in the June 2026 quarterly report lists fees of 0.00% after subsidy and 0.30% before it. For the pension scheme as a whole, USS's 2026 report cites CEM Benchmarking analysis putting its investment management costs for 2024 at the equivalent of £102m lower than the median global peer pension fund, after adjusting for size. Costs in general are explained on the pension charges page.
Through the short form here, an adviser can ring you back without charge and set your Investment Builder pot beside the State Pension and anything else you have saved.
USS fund questions
Is USS the biggest UK pension scheme?
USS describes itself as the UK's largest private defined benefit scheme by assets. Another large scheme, the Local Government Pension Scheme, is covered on its own funding page.
Does a market fall cut my guaranteed USS pension?
The Retirement Income Builder is the defined benefit part, which USS says gives a guaranteed income in retirement. The Investment Builder is different: USS says its value can go up or down and could be worth less than what was paid in. How the guaranteed pension rises each year is on the inflation page.
Where are my Investment Builder savings if I choose nothing?
In the Do It For Me route with the default lifestyle option, you are in the USS Growth Fund until 10 years before your target retirement age, then gradually in blends that USS says are less exposed to market swings, though they still carry risk. The alternative is choosing your own funds under Let Me Do It; ways to pay extra have their own page.
Where can I read the latest USS figures myself?
USS publishes a quarterly investment report for Investment Builder funds, an annual Report and Accounts, and a Summary Funding Statement, all on uss.co.uk. Check the date printed on each before relying on a number. For free, impartial guidance on taking money from a defined contribution pot such as the Investment Builder, MoneyHelper's Pension Wise offers an appointment if you are 50 or over.
Who decides how USS invests?
Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited is the trustee, and USS Investment Management Limited carries out the investing. The trustee can change the objective or benchmark of any USS fund from time to time.