Pensions Regulator publishes its 2025 funding analysis of occupational DB schemes

The Regulator published its annual funding analysis for UK occupational DB and hybrid pension schemes on September 4, 2025. The 2025 report is based on “tranche 18 schemes”, which are those with effective valuation dates from September 22, 2022, to September 21, 2023. inclusive.

Schemes typically submit funding data to the Regulator every three years. This means tranche 18 belongs in the same cohort of schemes as tranches 15, 12, 9, 6 and 3.

The key findings in the report were:

• 62 per cent of schemes reported a surplus position in tranche 18. This compares with 27 per cent in tranche 15.
• The mean average assets to technical provision liabilities ratio for schemes in tranche 18 was 104 per cent (median: 103 per cent).
• The mean average recovery plan length for schemes in deficit was 4.4 years (median: 3.8 years), with a median end date falling in 2027. For comparison, the mean average recovery plan length in tranche 15 was 6.3 years (median: 5.3 years).

Tranche 18 shows a substantial improvement in the assets to technical provision liabilities ratio compared with previous tranches. Since tranche 3, which covered valuations between September 22, 2007, and September 21, 2008, the average assets to technical provision liabilities ratios have substantially improved, going from 81.2 per cent to 103.6 per cent in tranche 18, a 22.4 percentage point increase.