Sole mates
Pensions & benefits Professional trustee selection DB pensions DC pensionsLCP’s sixth annual survey of the Professional Trustee and Professional Corporate Sole Trustee market explores the forces reshaping trusteeship, from a more competitive market and the continued rise of PCST, to endgame choices, DB surplus and increasing regulatory focus.
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53%of UK DB schemes now have a PT or PCST
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1,260PCST appointments - more than double the number six years ago
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£90bn+of assets overseen by PCSTs
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40+switches between Professional Trustee firms in the past year
Raising the bar
For six years, LCP’s Sole Mates research has followed the evolution of the Professional Trustee market.
What began as a fast-growing part of pensions governance has become a core part of the UK DB landscape. Professional Trustees now oversee around £1 trillion of DB assets and are involved in 53% of UK DB schemes.
But the next phase will not be defined by growth alone.
As the number of DB schemes continues to fall, firms are competing for a smaller pool of opportunities. At the same time, stronger funding positions, new endgame solutions and the growing prominence of DB surplus are changing the decisions trustees are being asked to make.
Our latest report examines what this means for Professional Trustees, sponsors and scheme members and why choosing the right governance partner has never mattered more.
Explore the report
Read nowWhat's inside?
- The market story across six years of LCP Sole Mates research, from rapid growth to a more mature, competitive and specialised market.
- Why stable headline figures mask a more active market, including increased switching between providers and schemes progressing to wind-up.
- How endgame decisions are reshaping the Professional Trustee role, including buy-out, run-on, superfunds, capital-backed solutions and surplus-sharing.
- Why sponsor collaboration, commercial judgement, governance and member outcomes are becoming as important as technical pensions expertise.
Professional Trusteeship has moved from being a governance option to becoming a central part of the DB pensions landscape. The real question now is not whether the market will grow, but how firms will adapt and demonstrate value as schemes face more complex endgame, surplus and governance decisions.
Nathalie Sims Partner & Head of Strategic Pensions Relationships
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Your questions answered
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The market has grown substantially since 2020. Professional Trustees are now involved in more than half of UK DB schemes and oversee around £1tn of assets. However, the market is becoming more mature: the number of schemes is shrinking as schemes consolidate or wind up, competition for appointments is increasing and firms are developing clearer specialisms.
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PCST remains the principal growth area in the market. There are now 1,260 PCST appointments, more than double the level seen in 2020, and PCSTs oversee more than £90bn of DB assets. The model is also increasingly being adopted by larger schemes and by schemes considering run-on or alternative endgame routes — not simply as a governance solution for a buy-out project.
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With growth of new Professional Trustee appointments slowing, firms are redefining where they can add value through roles that go beyond pure trustee roles.
PCST has seen an increase in new appointments, but also in redistribution of the market driven by the different in PCST solutions available.
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Our survey stats show that a collaborative attitude to discussions around surplus is the key reason why Professional Trustees get appointed. 80% of PTs get asked about their views on surplus in interviews. What is also striking is that certain Professional Trustee firms are increasingly developing expertise in alternative endgame solutions and driving innovation in our industry.
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With governance being top of sponsors’ agendas, Professional Trustees and PCSTs have a number of roles when joining a board, including creating efficiencies through cost and time saving, benchmarking adviser fees, providing perspective, supporting sponsor and Trustee in deciding and implementing the right endgame solutions to name a few.
