The UK's Only Pension Superfund is Poised to Double in Size
Britain’s only pensions “superfund” is poised to double in size after striking a string of deals to acquire underfunded retirement schemes.
Clara, the first of a new type of vehicle targeting defined-benefit (DB) schemes, has agreed to take on the pensions of 3,300 members of Marelli UK, a global automotive parts supplier. The pensions are worth roughly £250m.
It is Clara’s fourth deal this year, with two more to complete before the end of 2026.
Together, these deals will almost double Clara’s assets under management to £2.5bn from roughly £1.3bn at the start of the year.
Clara is the only British superfund currently operating and acts as a bridge to an eventual “buyout” by an insurer. The American investment firm Sixth Street backs it.
Superfunds target companies often in financial trouble and want to offload their pension funds to free up cash.
Marelli, for example, entered bankruptcy proceedings in June 2025, and Clara’s acquisition of the pension schemes is part of broader efforts to restructure the company.
Simon True, Clara’s chief executive, said the company was starting to target similar companies such as Marelli.
“We’re just widening the areas with which a super fund transaction can be applicable. We’ve worked with charities, and we’ve created a small-scheme solution.
“It’s all around momentum, and it’s around creating case studies that [pension scheme] trustees can get themselves comfortable with.”
In recent years, vast numbers of DB schemes have been acquired by US-backed insurers in buyout deals known as “pension risk transfers”.
This is where a business pays an insurance company to take on responsibility for managing and paying out its pensions.
More than half of the most active insurers in the UK market have either launched a partnership or are partially owned by some of the largest overseas private investors, many of which are on Wall Street.
However, the Government has long sought to cajole the 5,000 defined-benefit schemes that cannot afford a buyout into a superfund so they can invest more productively in the UK.
Pension insurers are also major UK investors, and some of Clara’s competitors have called on the Government to make it easier to invest in British infrastructure assets before the Oct 28 Budget.
Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), backed by Wall Street giant Apollo, called on Andy Burnham to follow Singapore’s lead by giving cities such as Manchester and Birmingham the power to fast-track planning approvals.
“Planning delays and the huge costs related to them are a major barrier [to investment],” Hayley Rees of PIC said.
“We should learn from what works in countries such as Singapore and help deliver a pipeline of projects that allow more investment in the infrastructure the country needs.”
I must admit, I never heard of the UK's Clara Pensions, but this article got me curious:
We believe retirement should be something to look forward to, not fret over. So when employees sign up to a job with defined benefits, those benefits are precisely what they should go on to receive.
This obligation can weigh heavily on employers and pension trustees, especially where there is risk of a shortfall. As the UK’s leading member-first pension consolidator, Clara is here to remove that worry.
When a scheme joins our superfund, our expert team works diligently and efficiently to prepare it for eventual buyout in the insured market. Members receive their promised income, while trustees meet their obligations and employers are freed up to focus on growth. No one loses out. Everyone wins.
This pension 'superfund' is actually a great idea, one Canada should look into.
It's not a superfund in terms of size, relatively small, but the idea behind it makes a lot of sense.
It's basically member-first consolidator for defined benefit pension schemes, and the first and only consolidator.
You can read more news on Clara Pensions here.
Its CEO, Simon True, was appointed back in 2022, and the superfund is growing.
That's all for today, I just wanted to bring this fund to your attention and see if Canada should look into the same idea, on top of what CAAT Pension and OPTrust are doing.
Below, learn more about Clara Pensions through this presentation.
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