DB trustees report 34% average rise in scheme running costs as pressure diverges by scheme size

• Trustees reported an average increase of 34% in Defined Benefit scheme running costs over the past 12 months.

• Nearly half (44%) of trustees overseeing schemes with £1bn or more in assets under management reported that their scheme’s running costs had increased by more than 50% over the past year, compared with 7% of trustees overseeing schemes below £1bn.

• Legal services were identified by 37% of trustees as the area seeing the largest absolute cost increase, followed by technology and data services, cited by 34%.

Trustees reported an average increase of 34% in running costs over the past 12 months, with the findings published in the second Insight Report from the TPT Retirement Solutions: DB Trustee Pulse 2026*. This year’s findings remain relatively consistent with the 2024 iteration of the research, when responding trustees reported average cost inflation of 37%, indicating that cost pressures remain a significant issue for many UK DB schemes.

Legal services were identified by 37% of trustees as the area seeing the largest absolute cost increase, followed by technology and data services (34%). However, analysis of the findings suggests that cost pressures facing schemes are broad-based as opposed to being driven by one dominant factor: governance and administration services were both cited by 28% of trustees, while major project undertakings such as GMP equalisation or Pensions Dashboard preparation, alongside covenant services, (also both 27%) all ranked close behind.

Trustees across both scheme-size groups reported rising costs, with the largest increases more commonly reported by trustees overseeing larger schemes (see Graph above).

The research showed that almost half (44%) of trustees overseeing schemes with £1bn or more in assets reported running cost increases of more than 50% over the past year, compared with just 7% of those overseeing schemes below that threshold.

The divergence was even more pronounced at the upper end of the range: none of the trustees overseeing schemes below £1bn in assets reported cost increases of over 76%, compared with almost one in five (18%) trustees managing schemes with assets above that threshold.

Jonathan Jackaman, Head of Client Relations at TPT Retirement Solutions said:

“Rising scheme costs are no longer simply a budgetary concern but instead, are becoming a strategic challenge for trustee boards to navigate. Trustees are spending more on the building blocks of good governance, from legal support and administration to data and governance itself. And the data suggests that size alone does not insulate schemes from these pressures, with the steepest increases being reported among the larger schemes that responded.

For some trustee boards, consolidation can be one way to manage that complexity more efficiently working to reduce duplication, improve cost certainty and provide access to specialist capabilities at scale. The aim is not simply to cut costs, but to ensure trustee time and scheme resources are focused where they can have the greatest impact on long-term strategy in order to improve outcomes and continue delivering for members.”

Notes to Editors

TPT Retirement Solutions (TPT) is one of the UK’s leading providers of workplace pensions with 80 years’ experience of managing defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes. It has £11.4 billion of assets under management (as at 30 September 2025) and more than 490,000 members.

TPT’s mission is to make pension schemes perform better for everyone, from the sponsoring employers and trustees to the members who are saving for the future. It is an innovative, forward-thinking organisation, investing in technology to improve the services they provide. TPT is ultimately owned by a pension fund, providing genuine alignment of interests with those of its clients and scheme members.

Our ownership

TPT Retirement Solutions Limited is wholly owned by Verity Trustees Limited in its capacity as trustee of The Pensions Trust.

TPT Investment Management Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of TPT Retirement Solutions Limited.

Group Services & Regulation

Verity Trustees Limited is the corporate trustee of The Pensions Trust and The Pensions Trust 2016. It is a company limited by guarantee and is regulated by The Pensions Regulator. Registered in England and Wales under company number 00744017. Registered office: 5th Floor 3 South Brook Street, Leeds, England, LS10 1FT.

TPT Retirement Solutions Limited provides pension management and administration services to UK pension schemes. Registered in England and Wales under company number 09639961. Registered office: 5th Floor 3 South Brook Street, Leeds, England, LS10 1FT.

TPT Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and provides investment management and consultancy services to UK pension schemes. Registered in England and Wales under company number 14527587. Registered office: 5th Floor 3 South Brook Street, Leeds, England, LS10 1FT.