Member webinar

For the 2018 valuation, our covenant advisors said that if another strong employer were to follow Trinity College Cambridge and leave the scheme, the covenant would be downgraded to ‘tending-to-strong’. All things equal, a weaker covenant means less investment risk, and less investment risk means higher contributions. This is reflected in the ‘tending-to-strong’ scenario detailed in our consultation document. The support measures that UUK first consulted employers on in June 2019, following Trinity College Cambridge’s decision to exit, would protect the strength of the covenant – as the proposed rule change would prevent other strong employers from leaving the scheme without the trustee’s consent.

Unlike employers, members can elect to leave the scheme at any point without having to pay a statutory exit fee (known as a ‘Section 75 debt’ payment). So, their contributions do not factor in to the way we manage funding risk. Employers are legally responsible for funding the benefits they have promised to their employees, so we aim to manage the scheme such that the cost of doing so is always within their collective means. This is an example of how USS as a ‘funded’ scheme (i.e., today’s contributions are invested to generate future cash flows to fund future pensions) differs from an ‘unfunded’ scheme like the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (where today’s contributors/taxpayers pay for today’s pensions).

We acknowledge that the contribution rates illustrated in our consultation document are unlikely to be considered affordable or sustainable. The ‘historical norm’ for member opt out rates for USS, based on data from employers, has been around 15%. Over the past year, the opt-out rate (taking into account both new joiners and auto enrolment re-joiners) has been in the region of 18%. Members give a variety of reasons for opting out, but affordability has consistently been chief among them in surveys since the start of 2019. Between a quarter and a third of respondents gave this reason, followed by being on a fixed term contract and having plans to move out of the UK in the future. This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. The JNC decides what benefits are provided going forward (and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers). Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. USS is already a ‘hybrid’ pension scheme which provides DB benefits in the Retirement Income Builder and DC benefits in the Investment Builder.

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to consider. Our role as Trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. We will support UUK and UCU (and their advisors) with modelling and analysis should they wish to consider any changes.

USS is one of the relatively few private, funded DB schemes in the country that is still open to new members and to future accrual. It accounts for a third (34%) of the people still actively paying in to private DB schemes that remain open to new members (PPF purple book figure 3.8), and almost a fifth (18.4%) of the people still actively paying in to private DB schemes (PPF Purple book figure 3.8)

In 2019, SAUL reported that “the real cost” of its pensions was about 30.4% of salary, and that its ongoing “contribution strain” had risen from 7% in 2018 to 8.4%.

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which is ‘unfunded’ and a direct call on taxpayers, has raised employer contributions to 23.68% – two percent more than our sponsors currently contribute and the same as is currently scheduled from next October (23.7%) unless the 2020 valuation results in any changes. It’s a tiered scheme – more details here – but the average salary among USS members is £41k, which falls into the 9.6% member contribution bracket for TPS (what all USS members currently contribute).

As a member of USS, you are promised an inflation-protected income for life in retirement regardless of what happens to the economy in the future. So, once earned, your benefits increase in value broadly in line with inflation every year of your working life and every year of your life in retirement.

You do not pay tax on your contributions. You are also promised a lump sum worth three times your annual pension – as well as other important benefits including incapacity cover and financial support for surviving dependents.

Ultimately, our ‘best estimate’ is that your benefits will cost less than the headline rate. However, as trustee, we have legal, regulatory and fiduciary duties to ensure that the benefits promised to you – which are protected by law and the Scheme Rules – can be paid when due. So, we need to build in prudence and account for future unknowns (such as inflation, life expectancy, and investment returns). That influences our investments, which has a corresponding influence on contributions.

Unlike employers, members can elect to leave the scheme at any point without having to pay a statutory exit fee (known as a ‘Section 75 debt’ payment). So, their contributions do not factor in to the way we manage funding risk.

Employers are legally responsible for funding the benefits they have promised to their employees, so we aim to manage the scheme such that the cost of doing so is always within their collective means. This is an example of how USS as a ‘funded’ scheme (i.e., today’s contributions are invested to generate future cash flows to fund future pensions) differs from an ‘unfunded’ scheme like the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (where today’s contributions and taxpayers pay for today’s pensions).

We acknowledge that the contribution rates illustrated in our consultation document are unlikely to be considered affordable or sustainable. The ‘historical norm’ for member opt out rates for USS, based on data from employers, has been around 15%. Over the past year, the opt out rate (taking into account both new joiners and auto enrolment re-joiners) has been in the region of 18%. Members give a variety of reasons for opting out, but affordability has consistently been chief among them in surveys since the start of 2019. Between a quarter and a third of respondents gave this reason, followed by being on a fixed term contract and having plans to move out of the UK in the future.

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. USS is a long-term investor and, as such, its outlook is a long-term view (i.e., 20 to 30 years) of future investment returns and economic growth.

The two key financial assumptions in a valuation are the expected investment returns and inflation. Our view of expected long-term investment returns is derived from USS Investment Management’s Fundamental Building Block (FBB) methodology. The Scheme Actuary considers these in providing his advice to the trustee on discount rates, along with other factors. We have also looked at other sources of return expectations including those produced by the Scheme Actuary’s firm (LCP) and those of other consultancy firms and asset managers.

Experience in this regard has been notably worse than the economic assumptions and expectations that drove the 2018 valuation. Even ahead of the pandemic, the continued fall in real interest rates and a lower and slower outlook for global economic growth was increasing the cost of USS pensions. COVID-19 has added to these challenges.

We will reflect on post-valuation experience before finalising the valuation, and we have 15 months from the valuation date to file it with The Pensions Regulator. Note that changes in the value of assets is only half the story, the change in the discount rate due to movements in expectations for future investment returns is also relevant.

Benefits already earned are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. In the extremely unlikely event that all of the scheme’s 340 participating employers were to become insolvent, USS would be eligible to enter the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). The PPF is a statutory public corporation which is accountable to Parliament through the Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions. The PPF was established in 2005 to protect people with eligible defined benefit pensions in the event that a scheme’s sponsoring employer (or employers) becomes insolvent without there being sufficient funds available in the scheme.

If such circumstances were ever to occur, the PPF would pay compensation to members. The PPF compensation might be less than the full benefits earned within USS. The precise amount that the PPF would pay to each member would depend on the member’s age, the period over which the benefits were earned and the total value of benefits.

At the 31 March 2018 valuation date, the scheme’s ‘section 179’ valuation position, used in determining the PPF levy payable by the scheme, showed a deficit of £19.6bn.

Note that the solvency of our sponsors in the HE sector is a different question to affordability and sustainability as regards USS contributions. USS is as a multi-employer scheme with a joint or shared liability and is what is known as a ‘last man standing scheme’. Under the Scheme Rules, the liabilities of the scheme pass to the last employer in the scheme where the other employers have ceased to participate or become insolvent. As such, the effect of the pension liabilities of financially weaker employers potentially falling to other employers to fund is a key consideration. Ultimately, our concern is the collective ability of sponsoring employers to fund the benefits promised to members and that the costs of doing so do not have such an impact on the finances of employers that it weakens, or puts at risk, the very support we rely upon.

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. In terms of past investment returns, over the five years to 31 March 2020 the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

Note that USS is a long-term investor and, as such, it takes a long-term view (i.e., 20 to 30 years) of future investment returns and economic growth. Each new valuation allows for the experience since the previous one, as well as an updated view of the long-term outlook. The valuation at 2018 showed a deficit of £3.6bn. Since 2018 however, there has been significant market volatility and turmoil as interest rates have fallen to record lows, resulting in lower expected future investment returns. This has increased the deficit under our proposed 2020 valuation assumptions.

Our proposal for the 2020 valuation incorporates many of the Joint Expert Panel’s recommendations – although some of them are for UUK and UCU to take forward, rather than the trustee. In particular, we are proposing a much larger ‘risk budget’ and more risk in the long-term, and our proposed approach also reflects the open nature and maturity of the scheme. See page 13 of our consultation document for more details.

The size and scale of USS demands a degree of diversification in the way it invests – but fundamentally the estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. In terms of past investment returns, over the five years to 31 March 2020 the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

Ultimately, the size and scale of USS demands a degree of diversification in the way it invests but, most importantly of all, the overall balance of our investments reflects the fundamental characteristic of a defined benefit pension: an inflation-protected income for life in retirement, promised regardless of what happens to the economy.

De-risking involves greater certainty in the funding plan and reducing the risk that we are unable to generate the cash flows required in future to pay your benefits. It also ensures that the amount employers might need to pay in the future to secure your benefits is within their means to fund. Analysis we carried out last year found that if we had not done any interest rate or inflation hedging since 2013, the funding level as at 31 August 2019 would have been about 8% lower.

We have delivered strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes: over the five years to 31 March 2020, the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Investment returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn). The most recent independent analysis found that our investment management costs were equivalent to £49m a year lower than funds of a similar size and complexity.

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that – not by past performance.

We have actually achieved strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes.

Over the five years to 31 March 2020, the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Investment returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91%pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

The team has also delivered strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes: the most recent independent analysis found that our investment management costs were equivalent to £49m a year lower than funds of a similar size and complexity.

Copies of our Report and Accounts are available here. As we make clear, we recruit investment managers with the appropriate competencies to run the scheme expertly on behalf of members, and we pay them the market rate. As is well-known, the market rate for investment management and financial services is higher than in many other sectors.

The incentives paid in 2019/20 (p39 of our 2020 Report and Accounts) were awarded in previous years and based on five-year performance to 31 December 2019. Other figures (i.e., p69) account for an estimate of incentives awarded in (and prior to) 19/20 based on five-year performance to 31 March 2020 – but which will mature in future years.

By law, a formal valuation has to be held at least every three years – for example, the 2020 valuation will be the third valuation USS has conducted in four years. All things equal, if the long-term outlook for investment returns and economic growth improved by or before the next valuation, we would expect the cost of funding the scheme’s current benefits to be lower.

The Joint Negotiating Committee decides how any change in the overall contribution rate arising from a valuation should be shared between members and employers, and/or if any changes should be made to the benefits provided. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

Our role is to determine the contribution rate required for a given set of benefits. We have no preference as to the benefits provided to you by the scheme; this is a matter for the Joint Negotiating Committee (made up of an equal number of employer (UUK) and member (UCU) representatives, with an independent Chair). This important separation of duties is embedded within the Scheme Rules.

The hard reality is that the valuable pension benefits such as those offered by USS, promised regardless of what happens to the economy in future, have become very expensive. Even ahead of the pandemic, the continued fall in real interest rates and a lower and slower outlook for global economic growth was increasing the cost of USS pensions. COVID-19 has added to these challenges.

The challenges we face in meeting the cost of funding defined benefits are the same for every pension scheme. In 2019, SAUL reported that “the real cost” of its pensions was about 30.4% of salary, and that its ongoing “contribution strain” had risen from 7% in 2018 to 8.4%. The Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which is ‘unfunded’ and a direct call on taxpayers, has raised employer contributions to 23.68% – two percent more than our sponsors currently contribute and the same as is currently scheduled from next October (23.7%) unless the 2020 valuation results in any changes. It’s a tiered scheme – more details here – but the average salary among USS members is £41k, which falls into the 9.6% member contribution bracket for TPS (what all USS members currently contribute).

In practice, comparisons of the costs and performance of different defined benefit pension funds are far from straightforward. The profile of a scheme’s membership, the relative maturity of a scheme, and the range and type of benefits provided all influence the cost of a £1 of pension. Similarly, investment policies may be set in different contexts and their relative performance will therefore differ across different periods.

The cost of benefits is influenced by a number of underlying factors that might not be immediately apparent at face value.

There can be differences in the make-up of the membership – analysis of scheme-specific experience shows that USS members live significantly longer than an average member of the UK population.

There will be differences in benefits provided, such as the level of death in service and incapacity benefits, and inflation protection. Small differences here can add up to big differences overall to the contribution rate required to fund a scheme’s benefits.

There can also be notable differences in the investments and investment strategies that fund defined benefit pension schemes that can give rise to differences in past and expected future investment performance. For example, a scheme that hedged to a greater extent than USS, and/or elected to de-risk its investment strategy, in recent years will have seen its investments performing relatively better – but this would also lead to an increase in the expected cost of funding benefits in future. Analysis we carried out last year found that if we had not done any interest rate or inflation hedging since 2013, the funding level as at 31 August 2019 would have been about 8% lower.

While we have gradually increased our liability-hedging assets, it would not have been realistic – given market capacity issues – for a scheme of our size to have approached full hedging of our liabilities, even if our sponsoring employers said they wanted us to pursue such an approach. Employers have been clear in the past, when we consulted on our statement of investment principles, that they supported a gradual shift in portfolio risk, rather than a short-term hedging strategy.

USS has been consistent with the investment strategies consulted upon with employers – and has performed well: the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn over the five years to 31 March 2020. Investment returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn). Our in-house investment team and their strategy significantly reduced asset value volatility compared to their benchmark during this period which means the asset value reduction was more modest (some £2.7bn ‘better’) than the ‘passive’ benchmark at 31 March – in the middle of the market turmoil. The team has also delivered strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes: the most recent independent analysis found that our investment management costs were equivalent to £49m a year lower than our peers (funds of a similar size and complexity).

No. Metric A considers the position of the scheme at the valuation date, in order to check that our funding target (i.e., Technical Provisions) is not too far away from self-sufficiency, relative to the employers’ covenant. We do not want the funding target to be too far away from self-sufficiency, so that we could get there if we needed to. Similarly, we do not want our funding target to be too close to self-sufficiency, because that would dramatically increase the cost of providing pensions still further.

This is entirely consistent with the long-term funding objective suggested by the Joint Expert Panel: ‘USS aims to be fully funded on a Technical Provisions basis where Technical Provisions are valued on a low-risk self-sufficiency basis for post-retirement years and on a prudent on-going basis for the pre-retirement years. The scheme will also ensure that, at all times, the proximity to full self-sufficiency assessed on a low-risk basis can be supported by employers over an appropriate time frame if the scheme were to be closed to future accruals.’ (JEP 2 report, page 58.)

The proposed funding targets in our consultation are all further from self-sufficiency in 20 years’ time than the targets for the 2017 and 2018 valuations. We are proposing a much larger ‘risk budget’ and more risk in the long-term – two of the key ‘asks’ raised by our stakeholders: depending on the covenant, between 35% and 50% of the DB fund would still be invested in growth assets in 20 years’ time (2018 valuation = c.20%), and the single equivalent discount rates we are consulting on are higher than the 2018 valuation (gilts+1.4% to gilts+1.9% pa versus gilts+1.33% pa). Our proposed approach also reflects the open nature and maturity of the scheme – two of the key considerations raised by our stakeholders.

This relates to hedging interest and inflation rate risk associated with our liabilities and reflects the decision to invest a substantial portion of the portfolio in ‘non-matching’ return-seeking growth assets.

A total of 31% of our asset value is devoted to assets whose duration matches that of our liabilities (we call these LDI assets). So, for this portion of our asset portfolio there is no mismatch. We also invest in other duration sensitive instruments (such as foreign government bonds and corporate credit), which provide an additional level of duration matching.

We judge that a balance needs to be struck between growth assets and matching assets that hedge interest rate and inflation risk – and this is the appropriate balance for a strong covenant.

In other words, a strong covenant can support the residual duration risk whereas a tending-to-strong covenant would, all things equal, correspond with a greater allocation to ‘matching’ assets.

The low interest rate environment has contributed to the reduction in future expected investment returns and increased deficits. Interest rates had been decreasing globally in the longer term however, and it is not straightforward to isolate the impact of QE.

QE has impacted more than just gilt yields. In particular, it has impacted the yields on foreign government bonds as well as corporate bonds. The fall in yields associated with QE has generated high realised returns on all these bond assets, but at the same time lowered the expected future returns on bonds. QE has also boosted realised returns on equites but, as for bonds, it has lowered expected future returns on equities.

So, in summary, falling yields have led to increases in asset values generally, but also to a lower outlook for future returns.

Finally, one should note that QE has not been the only downward force on yields. The demand from pension plans and insurance companies for long-maturity bonds to hedge interest-rate risk has also had the effect of driving yields lower.

We’ve illustrated just two possible examples but are not formally consulting on the Recovery Plan until later in the process. This will provide the opportunity to reflect on post-valuation experience before the contribution rates are finalised. Our determination on this will depend on UUK’s response to our consultation, including the potential measures that could be taken to strengthen the employer covenant.

Generally, when we refer to ‘long term’, we refer to periods of 20 years and longer – but it depends on the context. Our covenant advisors believe we can take a 30-year view for a strong covenant and a 20-year view for a ‘tending-to-strong’ covenant. We consider both of these to be long-term in this context. However, if we are considering longevity risk, then we really need to consider longer timescales, given that today’s 40 year old members are likely to live another c. 50 years and may also have beneficiaries and dependants who outlive them.

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns and the need for greater prudence associated with that. Despite that, the proposed investment return assumptions for a strong covenant are actually higher (relative to low-risk assets such as gilts) than the assumptions adopted in 2018. We also anticipate retaining a higher long-term allocation to growth assets than assumed in 2018.

Importantly, we have not just looked at this through the single lens of percentile future investment returns expected from USS Investment Management’s Fundamental Building Block (FBB) model. That is only one view. We have also looked at other comparators – including those produced by the Scheme Actuary’s firm, other consultancies and other asset managers. It’s not surprising, given current conditions, that the range of views is wider than normal given the level of uncertainty – so we have applied judgement based on independent advice.

See Sections 8 and 9 of our consultation document for more on this topic.

You currently pay in 9.6% of your annual salary and your employer pays 21.1%. These values are due to increase from October 2021 to 11% and 23.7% respectively – unless and until the 2020 valuation results in any changes.

The Joint Negotiating Committee, made up of employer representatives from UUK and member representatives from UCU, is responsible for deciding what benefits are provided going forward and how the cost of funding them is shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. In terms of past investment returns, over the five years to 31 March 2020 the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

You currently pay in 9.6% of your annual salary and your employer pays 21.1%. These values are due to increase from October 2021 to 11% and 23.7% respectively – unless and until the 2020 valuation results in any changes. The Joint Negotiating Committee, made up of employer representatives from UUK and member representatives from UCU, is responsible for deciding what benefits are provided going forward and how the cost of funding them is shared between members and employers. If it cannot decide, the cost-sharing provisions will apply (as set out in the Scheme Rules).

The outcome of a valuation cannot affect the benefits members have already accrued. This includes pensions already in payment. Benefits already earned are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. They are backed by the scheme’s assets and the collective financial strength of 340 sponsoring employers.

In the extremely unlikely event that all the scheme’s participating employers were to become insolvent, USS would be eligible to enter the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). If such circumstances were ever to occur, the PPF would pay compensation to members. However, the PPF compensation might be less than the full benefits earned within USS. The precise amount that the PPF would pay to each member would depend on the member’s age, the period over which the benefits were earned and the total value of benefits.

Note that the solvency of our sponsors in the HE sector is a different question to the affordability and sustainability as regards USS contributions. USS is a multi-employer scheme with a joint or shared liability and is what is known as a ‘last man standing scheme’. Under the Scheme Rules, the liabilities of the scheme pass to the last employer in the scheme where the other employers have ceased to participate or become insolvent. As such, the effect of the pension liabilities of financially weaker employers potentially falling to other employers to fund is a key consideration. Ultimately, our concern is the collective ability of sponsoring employers to fund the benefits promised to members and that the costs of doing so do not have such an impact on the finances of employers that it weakens, or puts at risk, the very support we rely upon.

The outcome of a valuation cannot affect the benefits members have already accrued. This includes pensions already in payment. Benefits already earned are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. They are backed by the scheme’s assets and the collective financial strength of 340 sponsoring employers.

In the extremely unlikely event that all the scheme’s participating employers were to become insolvent, USS would be eligible to enter the Pension Protection Fund (PPF). If such circumstances were ever to occur, the PPF would pay compensation to members. However, the PPF compensation might be less than the full benefits earned within USS. The precise amount that the PPF would pay to each member would depend on the member’s age, the period over which the benefits were earned and the total value of benefits.

As with any defined contribution arrangement, savings built up in the Investment Builder may go down as well as up, as they are affected by the performance of financial markets.

Benefits already earned in the Retirement Income Builder (the defined benefit section of USS) are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. They are backed by the scheme’s assets and the collective financial strength of 340 sponsoring employers.

The 'promise' referred to is the promise of benefits already built up. These cannot and will not change as a result of the valuation, as they are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. The benefits offered in future are subject to change but this is ultimately an issue for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers.

The change of Normal Pension Age is not linked to benefits already built up. The USS Normal Pension Age is aligned to the State Pension age and will continue to be in the future.

Members’ views and experiences of engaging with us and our services are positive – 88% of members rated overall quality of service at USS as good (23%) or very good (65%). But it is entirely understandable for the funding challenges we face, and the debate surrounding them, to have influenced how they feel overall.

We are in no doubt that contributions have had to increase to ensure the valuable promises made to our members by their employers can be kept. USS, along with all similar pension schemes, has been facing a challenging environment in which the costs of funding high-quality defined benefits have increased dramatically.

Long-term trends and influences – including better life expectancies, greater regulation, volatile financial markets and persistently low ‘real’ interest rates – have combined to make the promise of a fixed, inflation-protected income for life in retirement more expensive. The impact of the Coronavirus on the outlook for the global economy, in terms of lower and slower growth, has added to these challenges.

We acknowledge that the contribution rates illustrated in our consultation document are unlikely to be considered affordable or sustainable. The ‘historical norm’ for member opt out rates for USS specifically, based on data shared by participating employers, has been around 15%. Over the past year, the opt out rate (taking into account both new joiners and auto enrolment re-joiners) has been in the region of 18%. Members give a variety of reasons for opting out, but affordability has consistently been chief among them in surveys since the start of 2019 (between a quarter and a third of respondents gave this reason), followed by being on a fixed term contract and having plans to move out of the UK in the future.

This is ultimately an issue for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as Trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers.

We have been working with stakeholders at UUK and UCU from the early stages of this valuation, and we have kept members informed every step of the way, with updates on our website and in our member emails. Our approach to the valuation is totally transparent. We have taken on board recommendations from the Joint Expert Panel, which brought together UUK and UCU, and we will continue to communicate progress with our members.

The Scheme Rules identify UUK as the only formal consultee. This reflects the fact that, unlike employers, members can elect to leave the scheme at any point without having to pay an exit fee (known as a ‘Section 75 debt’ payment). So, their contributions do not factor in to the way we manage funding risk.

We are currently consulting with UUK on the proposed valuation methodology and assumptions for the 2020 valuation in order to finalise the view of the scheme’s funding position and identify the overall contribution rate we need. Whilst this stage of the valuation is focused on employers’ views, we will engage with member representatives throughout via the Joint Negotiating Committee and other forums (such as the Valuation Methodology Discussion Forum and the tripartite Joint Expert Panel talks).

Decisions on future benefit levels and how the total required contributions are shared between employers and members are made by the Joint Negotiating Committee – made up of an equal number of UUK and UCU representatives, with an independent chair. These decisions will follow later in the valuation process and no listed changes can be made without a full consultation with all affected employees by their employers.

Listed changes which require consultation are set out in legislation and include:

• an increase in the Normal Pension Age;

• the closure of a scheme to new members or to future accrual;

• any increase in member contributions paid by or on behalf of a member to a scheme;

• a change to some or all of the benefits in a scheme from defined benefit to defined contribution;

• a reduction of the future accrual rate;

• a change in the basis for determining the future accrual rate (e.g. a change from DB to career average);

• changes to elements of pay that constitute pensionable earnings; and

• changes to a Scheme Rules on revaluation and indexation.

The valuation will have no effect on your tax limits. These are set by HMRC.

The assumptions used in calculating transfer values are reassessed regularly to allow for updated market conditions, with full reviews following a valuation. These are currently based on the trustee’s ‘best estimate’ of the cost of providing the benefits, and if the best estimate of the cost increases, the transfer values will increase. The trustee must ensure that members opting to take transfer values do not adversely affect the funding of the scheme.

If you have a Final Salary benefit with USS, a Final Salary closure statement would have been issued as this section of the scheme closed on 31 March 2016.  All the information pertaining to this section of your benefits is included in this statement. Please note a copy can be found on My USS.

Only deferred or retired members can update their address themselves in My USS - any address changes for active members will need to be done via the member's employer.

The contributions shown in Annual Member Statements only refer to the Investment Builder. The contributions you make to the Retirement Income Builder build up in a different way. Please see the AMS page, signposted in your statement, for more information.

The pension shown in the Annual Member Statement is the amount you have accrued to date. It does not include any actuarial reduction, which would apply should you take your benefits early, or projections should you choose to wait until your contractual retirement date.

You can start accessing your Retirement Income Builder benefits in full from the Normal Pension Age (age 66 from 6 October 2020). If you retire before this age, your benefits may be reduced because they’ll be paid for longer. But if you retire after this age, the benefits you’d earned up to that date may be increased. The Normal Pension Age will increase in the future in line with increases to the State Pension age.

What you can transfer will depend on whether you're still contributing, you’ve already stopped or you’re retired. Your Retirement Income Builder value can be transferred up until the Normal Pension Age (NPA). Your Investment Builder savings can be transferred out at any time, even if you haven't stopped paying in – just as long as you haven't started taking the savings yet.

Take a look at transferring to another scheme for more information.

If you contact our Member Service Team on 0151 556 0626, we can arrange for this information to be provided to you.

Please call us on 0151 556 0626 and we will arrange for the information to be issued.

The change of pension age in line with State Pension age was determined by UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) as part of the changes to scheme benefits agreed in 2011. It only affects new benefits built up after October 2020; no changes are being made to benefits already built up.

We wrote to members and enclosed a leaflet in 2011 to tell them about changes that were to come into effect from 1 October that year. This included details of the alignment of the scheme’s Normal Pension Age with the State Pension age. In both 2011 and 2014, we emailed members, via employers, to alert them to changes to ‘Your guide to USS’, in which we state that Normal Pension Age goes up in line with State Pension age. We have since pointed all new members to this guide upon joining the scheme.

The rules, principles, practices and processes by which USS board is governed are set out in the USS Governance Framework.

The USS board is made up of between 10 and 12 non-executive members comprising:

• Four directors appointed by Universities UK (UUK)

• Three directors appointed by the University and College Union (UCU) (one of whom is the pensioner member)

• Between three and five (or between 1 September 2019 and 1 February 2021, six) independent directors

The composition of the board and the authority to appoint board members is laid out in the USS articles of association. Under those articles:

• UUK is entitled to appoint any person to be a UUK director to fill any vacancy caused by the removal, retirement or death of a UUK director, subject to the approval of the USS board (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed);

• UCU is entitled to appoint any person to be a UCU director to fill any vacancy caused by the removal, retirement or death of a UCU director, subject to the approval of the USS board (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed); and

• The USS board is entitled to appoint any person to be an independent director to fill any vacancy caused by the removal, retirement or death of an independent director.

The USS board is supported by the Advisory Committee which is made up of six members appointed by UUK and UCU and which helps with difficult issues that arise under the Scheme Rules. If the rules need changing, the support of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) is required which is also made up of members appointed by the UUK and UCU. The JNC is also able to propose rule changes

USS is regulated by The Pensions Regulator, whose responsibilities include protecting people's savings in workplace pension schemes and improving the way that those schemes are run. We are subject to duties which arise under common law, statute and the pensions regulatory regime.

The Scheme Rules identify UUK as the only formal consultee. This reflects the fact that, unlike employers, members can elect to leave the scheme at any point without having to pay an exit fee (known as a ‘Section 75 debt’ payment). So, their contributions do not factor in to the way we manage funding risk.

We are currently consulting with UUK on the proposed valuation methodology and assumptions for the 2020 valuation in order to finalise the view of the scheme’s funding position and identify the overall contribution rate we need. Whilst this stage of the valuation is focused on employers’ views, we will engage with member representatives throughout via the Joint Negotiating Committee and other forums (such as the Valuation Methodology Discussion Forum and the tripartite Joint Expert Panel talks).

Decisions on future benefit levels and how the total required contributions are shared between employers and members are made by the Joint Negotiating Committee – made up of an equal number of UUK and UCU representatives, with an independent chair. These decisions will follow later in the valuation process and no listed changes can be made without a full consultation with all affected employees by their employers.

Listed changes which require consultation are set out in legislation and include:

• an increase in the Normal Pension Age;

• the closure of a scheme to new members or to future accrual;

• any increase in member contributions paid by or on behalf of a member to a scheme;

• a change to some or all of the benefits in a scheme from defined benefit to defined contribution;

• a reduction of the future accrual rate;

• a change in the basis for determining the future accrual rate (e.g. a change from DB to career average);

• changes to elements of pay that constitute pensionable earnings; and

• changes to a Scheme Rules on revaluation and indexation.

This is for UUK and UCU representatives on the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) to address. Our role as trustee is to ensure that the pension promises made to our members can be kept. The JNC decides what promises are made going forward, and how the contributions required to fund them are shared between members and employers. We will support UUK and UCU (and their advisors) with modelling and analysis should they wish to consider any changes.

The option for members to convert cash lump sums to pensions or vice versa is governed by the Scheme Rules. These state that the option is at the discretion of the trustee and must be on a basis of conversion rate determined by the trustee on advice from the Scheme Actuary.

At the last review, the Scheme Actuary recommended the use of a ‘best estimate’ cost approach for commutation of pension to cash. This is consistent with the approach for determining transfer out values (i.e., another instance where a cash amount is provided in lieu of pension). For conversion of cash to pension, he recommended that a different set of factors should be applied, primarily because of the additional funding risk to the scheme of such conversions, and for consistency with other cash to pension conversions in the scheme where a ‘low risk’ basis has been used historically.

The factors used in purchasing additional pension in the scheme are now set using consistent principles, whether from the Investment Builder or from the lump sum. However, these conversions purchase slightly different benefits with the Investment Builder conversions having an attaching spouse’s pension and therefore costing more.

We use ‘factors’ to calculate the cost and benefits of some of the options available to you in USS. The option for members to convert cash lump sums to pensions or vice versa is governed by the Scheme Rules. These state that the option is at the discretion of the trustee and must be on a basis of conversion rate determined by the Trustee on advice from the Scheme Actuary. The factors are reviewed regularly to make sure they remain appropriate, taking into account (amongst other things) the rules of the scheme, legislation, economic factors and the approach to funding. We will continue to review and update our factors as appropriate. As such, they are subject to change from time to time.

Our role is to determine the contribution rate required for a given set of benefits. We have no preference as to the benefits provided to you by the scheme; this is a matter for the Joint Negotiating Committee (made up of an equal number of employer (UUK) and member (UCU) representatives, with an independent Chair). This important separation of duties is embedded within the Scheme Rules.

The hard reality is that the valuable pension benefits such as those offered by USS, promised regardless of what happens to the economy in future, have become very expensive. Even ahead of the pandemic, the continued fall in real interest rates and a lower and slower outlook for global economic growth was increasing the cost of USS pensions. COVID-19 has added to these challenges.

Copies of our Report and Accounts are available in our about us section.

In summary, over the five years to 31 March 2020, the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Investment returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

Our in-house investment team and their strategy significantly reduced asset value volatility compared to their benchmark during this period which means the asset value reduction was more modest (some £2.7bn ‘better’) than the ‘passive’ benchmark at 31 March – in the middle of the market turmoil.

The team has also delivered strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes: the most recent independent analysis found that our investment management costs were equivalent to £49m a year lower than our peers (funds of a similar size and complexity).

At the moment, we can't say what impact Brexit will have on investment markets, but USSIM will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly.

As with any defined contribution arrangement, savings built up in the Investment Builder may go down as well as up, as they are affected by the performance of financial markets.

Benefits already earned in the Retirement Income Builder (the defined benefit section of USS) are protected by law and the Scheme Rules. They are backed by the scheme’s assets and the collective financial strength of 340 sponsoring employers.

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. In terms of past investment returns, over the five years to 31 March 2020 the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

As a member of USS, you are promised an inflation-protected income for life in retirement regardless of what happens to the economy in the future. So, once earned, your benefits increase in value broadly in line with inflation every year of your working life and every year of your life in retirement.

You do not pay tax on your contributions. You are also promised a lump sum worth three times your annual pension – as well as other important benefits including incapacity cover and financial support for surviving dependents.

Ultimately, our ‘best estimate’ is that your benefits will cost less than the headline rate. However, as trustee, we have legal, regulatory and fiduciary duties to ensure that the benefits promised to you – which are protected by law and the Scheme Rules – can be paid when due. So, we need to build in prudence and account for future unknowns (such as inflation, life expectancy, and investment returns). That influences our investments, which has a corresponding influence on contributions.

The estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. USS is a long-term investor and, as such, its outlook is a long-term view (i.e., 20 to 30 years) of future investment returns and economic growth.

The two key financial assumptions in a valuation are the expected investment returns and inflation. Our view of expected long-term investment returns is derived from USS Investment Management’s Fundamental Building Block (FBB) methodology. The Scheme Actuary considers these in providing his advice to the trustee on discount rates, along with other factors. We have also looked at other sources of return expectations including those produced by the Scheme Actuary’s firm (LCP) and those of other consultancy firms and asset managers.

Experience in this regard has been notably worse than the economic assumptions and expectations that drove the 2018 valuation. Even ahead of the pandemic, the continued fall in real interest rates and a lower and slower outlook for global economic growth was increasing the cost of USS pensions. COVID-19 has added to these challenges.

We will reflect on post-valuation experience before finalising the valuation, and we have 15 months from the valuation date to file it with The Pensions Regulator. Note that changes in the value of assets is only half the story, the change in the discount rate due to movements in expectations for future investment returns is also relevant.

The size and scale of USS demands a degree of diversification in the way it invests – but fundamentally the estimated increase in the Technical Provisions deficit and future service cost are driven by the deteriorating and increasingly uncertain outlook for future investment returns, and the need for greater prudence associated with that. In terms of past investment returns, over the five years to 31 March 2020 the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn).

Ultimately, the size and scale of USS demands a degree of diversification in the way it invests but, most importantly of all, the overall balance of our investments reflects the fundamental characteristic of a defined benefit pension: an inflation-protected income for life in retirement, promised regardless of what happens to the economy.

De-risking involves greater certainty in the funding plan and reducing the risk that we are unable to generate the cash flows required in future to pay your benefits. It also ensures that the amount employers might need to pay in the future to secure your benefits is within their means to fund. Analysis we carried out last year found that if we had not done any interest rate or inflation hedging since 2013, the funding level as at 31 August 2019 would have been about 8% lower.

We have delivered strong investment returns for less than it costs other schemes: over the five years to 31 March 2020, the DB fund (the Retirement Income Builder) grew by £17 billion to £66.5bn. Investment returns averaged 6.19% pa (worth £17.4bn) - 0.91% pa ahead of benchmark (worth £2.74bn). The most recent independent analysis found that our investment management costs were equivalent to £49m a year lower than funds of a similar size and complexity.

The Annual Allowance (AA) to the amount of contributions paid to, or benefits accrued in, a pension scheme is £40,000 for the 2020/2021 tax year. If your ‘threshold income’ is over £200,000 a year and your ‘adjusted income’ is over £240,000 then your standard AA is tapered. This means that for every £2 your adjusted income is over £240,000, your AA goes down by £1 (capped to a minimum AA of £4,000).

For more information on this topic, see our pension tax page.

The Benefit Illustrator takes into account the current actuarial factors to allow for age-related reductions to benefits. These factors are reviewed regularly however, so may change prior to your retirement. The notes that are displayed on logging in to the illustrator give more details on the calculations.

The trustee has the power under the Scheme Rules to make amendments to the minimum pension age at which benefits can be taken, however any amendment would require the consent of the Joint Negotiating Committee which is made up of an equal number of employer (UUK) and member (UCU) representatives, with an independent Chair. The JNC can also propose amendments to the Scheme Rules.

The government has stated that, by law, the minimum pension age will increase to 57 in 2028, when state retirement age increases to 67 (maintaining the 10-year differential between minimum pension age and state pension age). Once this increase comes into effect, the rules of the scheme will need to be amended to reflect the change.

If you leave USS either because you have left employment, or you choose not to continue in USS and you have less than two years of USS service a deferred pension and lump sum would be based on the value of your own contributions to the scheme (including any amount your employer paid in for you under salary sacrifice). You’ll also get a one off cash lump sum of three times the annual rate of your pension. If you are eligible for and choose to receive a refund, it would be of your own (not your employer’s) contributions. This would be less a tax deduction of 20% (50% tax on the excess of refunds over £20,000) in respect of the tax relief you received on your contributions whilst a member of USS.

If you leave service and you have two or more years USS service then you are eligible for a deferred pension and lump sum payable from Normal Pension Age. This will be the total pension you have built up in the scheme at the point you left and the lump sum will be three times your pension, as standard. Within broad limits, the balance between pension and lump sum may be altered at your request just before the benefits come into payment.

In respect of the Investment Builder, if you have less than three months’ contributions, your refund will be based on the amount you have paid in. If you have paid more than three months’ contributions you will receive the fund value applicable on the date of the refund. Take a look at your pension after leaving for more information.

If you no longer have a UK bank account, Citibank offers a service where your monthly pension payments can be paid directly to an overseas bank account. If you wish to consider this option we would pay your pension via BACS to a unique Citbank account and they would then transfer your pension payment to your overseas pension account. Find out more on our working or retiring overseas page.

If you’re moving overseas, you can ask your new scheme whether you can transfer your USS pension fund over to them. We won’t transfer to an overseas scheme unless it’s a Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (ROPS). So we’ll check this before completing the transfer. You can also check this for yourself using the Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes notification list.

If your new scheme doesn’t meet certain conditions, you may be charged an Overseas Transfer Charge (OTC). It’s a 25% tax charge taken from your transfer. Even if you don’t need to pay this right away, you may need to pay it later if circumstances change within five years. A payment to a non-ROPS scheme would be an unauthorised payment and would be subject to further tax charges of at least 40% of the transferred amount. For more information on moving overseas, see our Working or retiring overseas factsheet.

Purchasing an annuity with your defined contribution (DC) savings (like the Investment Builder) means you’ll buy a regular income for life when you retire. The rate received will depend on a number of things, like the amount of money in your DC pot, market conditions, your age and health, whether or not the income will increase once in payment, and whether a pension will be provided to your dependants when you die.

Flexi-access drawdown is one of the flexible ways you can take your defined contribution (DC) savings (like your Investment Builder pot) from age 55. With drawdown, you can take up to 25% of your pension savings tax-free upfront. The rest can remain invested and then be taken as income when it suits you. This income may vary depending on investment performance and it isn't promised for life.

By law we are not able to give you any financial or other advice regarding whether you should keep your benefits in the scheme or not. You might want to speak to a financial adviser or use one of the free impartial guidance services available through the Money and Pensions Service - click on Looking for money and pensions help.

You can also take a look at what you pay and what you'll get for an overview of what you get. If you're paying in for less than two years, take a look at your pension after leaving for more information.

By law, we're not able to give you any financial advice or guidance. You might want to speak to a financial adviser or use one of the free impartial guidance services available through the Money and Pensions Service - click on Looking for money and pensions help.

You can make additional contributions to the Investment Builder, either as a lump sum or regular payments, whenever you like in My USS however these may be subject to tax charges if they exceed certain limits. Take a look at our Investment Builder page for more information and watch our how-to video on making additional contributions.

The Final Salary section of USS closed on 31 March 2016. This element of pension benefits was calculated using your pensionable service (normally the number of years and days you have worked with one or more employer participating in USS) and pensionable salary which is calculated using a formula known as ‘smoothing out’.

Smoothing out works by determining a member’s salary for each period of 12 months that they have been a USS member, over a maximum time period of 13 years previous to the date on which the pensionable salary is to be calculated. Each of those 12-month periods is revalued, except the last 12 months, using the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation. The pensionable salary is whatever comes out best from that calculation - either the highest revalued annual salary during the last three years or the highest revalued salary averaged across any three consecutive ‘best years’ over the last 13 years.

The pension and cash value that results from this calculation will be increased between 1 April 2016 and the date you retire in line with USS's standard pension increases.

At retirement you will receive the Final Salary benefits built up to the 31 March 2016 as a service credit which will be added onto any further benefits accrued under the scheme from April 2016 onwards. Statements detailing the amount of your former benefits in the Final Salary section were distributed to members towards the end of October 2016, for more information about these statements and what they include please see the Final Salary section.

You need to have left the role where you’ve been building up your USS pension before you can take it. The earliest you can take your benefits is age 55 – but your pension will be reduced to make up for it being paid out early.

The government has stated that the minimum pension age will increase to 57 in 2028, when state retirement age increases to 67 (maintaining the 10-year differential between minimum pension age and state pension age). Once this increase comes into effect, the rules of the scheme will need to be amended to reflect the change.

Take a look at your pension after leaving for more information

You can use the modellers to estimate your benefits at different ages.

You can use the Benefit Illustrator to estimate the value of your benefits when you come to take them.

The modeller has been updated to reflect the new Normal Pension Age. We were unable to make this update while members were still looking to retire before the new Normal Pension Age was introduced but did include information to that effect in the notes.

Yes, we have two tools available - the Benefit Illustrator lets you estimate the value of your benefits at retirement and the Additional Contributions Modeller lets you estimate how much your additional contributions to the Investment Builder could provide as a savings pot when you come to take them.

You can find both on the calculate your benefits page.

The Normal Pension Age (NPA) in USS for both men and women aligns to the State Pension age - which changed to 66 on 6 October 2020. For more information on retiring from USS, visit the retirement section of the website.

You can also use our modellers to see an estimate of your benefits in different scenarios.

The TRA is the age you plan to start taking your Investment Builder savings. It only applies to any savings you have in the Investment Builder (the defined contribution section) – it doesn’t have to be the same age that you retire and start taking your Retirement Income Builder benefits (the defined benefits section). If you don't choose a TRA, we'll automatically set it to the Normal Pension Age (NPA). The NPA in USS for both men and women aligns with the State Pension age – which changed to 66 on 6 October 2020.

It lets us know when to get in touch about your options as you approach this age. It also allows us to automatically move any investments you have in the Investment Builder to lower risk funds as you get closer to it. We do this for members in the Do It For Me Options, where we manage your investments for you. If you’ve chosen to invest in our self-select funds (the Let Me Do It Option), you’re responsible for reviewing and managing your own investments. But we’ll still send you a letter to remind you of your options around six months before your TRA.

The NPA is the age at which your Retirement Income Builder benefits (the defined benefit part of USS) become payable in full. If you retire before this age, your benefits may be reduced because they’ll be paid for longer. But if you retire after this age, the benefits you’d earned up to that date may be increased.

For more information on retiring from USS, visit the retirement section of the website.

Upon leaving USS you will be provided with your leaver statement and the options available to you. Take a look at your pension after leaving for more information.

By law we are not able to give you any financial or other advice regarding whether you should keep your benefits in the scheme or not. You might want to speak to a financial adviser or use one of the free impartial guidance services available through the Money and Pensions Service - click on Looking for money and pensions help.

Your pension is taxed during payment just like a regular income using your tax code provided by HMRC. Transfers in to USS from a Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (ROPS) may be possible. You should check with your previous overseas pension scheme whether a transfer value can be paid to a UK scheme. You can check whether your previous pension scheme is a ROPS using the Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes notification list.

Please complete the Transfer in form and we will investigate whether or not a transfer in from your previous scheme is possible.

Take a look at our timeline to retirement to understand the process and how long it takes.

This is not possible, under the law or Scheme Rules.

No. This has not been available for some time.

For more information on transferring benefits from other pension schemes, see the transfer in page.

You might want to seek financial advice or guidance on your options relative to your specific circumstances.

If you have pension savings elsewhere that you haven’t started taking yet and your previous scheme is registered with HMRC, you could transfer them to the Investment Builder.

The pension savings you transfer will go into your Investment Builder pot. Visit transferring in to USS for more information.

It is possible to transfer benefits from USS to another pension scheme, but we recommend that you consider your choices carefully and seek regulated financial advice before making any decisions. Take a look at your pension after leaving for more information.

Visit transferring to another scheme for more on transferring out.

You can only make investment choices for any Investment Builder savings you have. Take a look at our Investment Builder page for more information.

Take a look at our Investment Builder page for more information. You can also read A guide to investing in the Investment Builder. If you still can't find what you're after, you can call our Member Service Team on 0333 300 1043. Lines are open 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday.

You can take your whole pot as a cash payment with UFPLS (we call these cash payments with USS). Take a look at our factsheet for more information on cash payments. Or visit taking your benefits and savings for more about your options.

Members may take an uncrystallised lump sum payment from their Investment Builder savings from age 55 (rising to 57 in 2028). 25% of any amount taken will be payable tax free, with the remaining taxed at your income tax rate.