L&G breaks industry record as it surpasses £200 billion in DC assets

L&G, the UK’s largest Defined Contribution (‘DC’) provider has reached a significant milestone, with total DC assets under management (‘AUM’) now surpassing £200 billion. This is a first for the pensions industry and comes less than a year after the L&G Mastertrust hit £30 billion in AUM.

More than half of the assets under administration (AUA) are across its Workplace DC schemes, which surpassed £100 billion in June and support 5.7 million members.

The Workplace DC business recorded net flows up 21% to £4bn at half year. With a target of £40-50 billion of cumulative net flows by 2028, this business is an important part of L&G’s broader long-term strategy and its growth has been driven by a combination of strong net inflows, product innovation and focus on excellent client support.

In 2024, L&G launched the Private Markets Access Fund (‘PMAF’), which has already attracted £1.6 billion as L&G leads the market in making private assets more accessible to DC savers. It also launched the Lifetime Advantage Funds (‘LAF’), which are a ‘to and through’ target date fund range, offering members extended access to a diverse selection of growth assets, including a range of private market assets. Members have exposure to 100% growth assets up until 15 years before retirement, including a 15% allocation to PMAF.

Together, these initiatives mark an important step forward in putting UK pension capital to work to drive economic growth while helping to improve member outcomes. 

L&G’s scale enables continual investment in technology and services designed to help members plan more confidently for retirement. At the heart of this growth is a continued focus on achieving better retirement outcomes based on personalised, insight-driven guidance.

Its Guided Retirement Planner, a market first, offers people aged 55+ a tailored view of their pensions, savings and investments, enabling them to create a personalised retirement income plan that evolves with them. Early usage has exceeded expectations, with higher-than-anticipated engagement and action even before full rollout.  Nearly 70,000 members from this group have already begun their Guided Retirement Planner journey.

The Planner has significantly boosted retirement readiness, with the provider reporting a 50% reduction in members facing shortfalls after adjusting their plans: one in three members have created a full retirement plan and strategy while one in five take a significant action as a result, whether this is a decision to consolidate, enter drawdown or purchase an annuity. 

L&G’s award-winning workplace pension app, which is now the highest-rated app of its kind in the UK and used by one-in-five active members, also incorporates open-finance functionality to help savers track and manage their finances as well as personalised content tailored to their retirement planning journey.