Ernst & Young Retirement Benefits Plan (EYRBP)

Investment strategy and manager selection fall to the Trustee Board, chaired by Peter O'Neill, operating through E&Y Trustees Limited. The board is advised by an investment committee that meets quarterly and draws on external investment consultants. Day-to-day implementation is handled by EY's in-house pensions team in coordination with the board's delegated mandates for LDI overlays and private-market fund commitments.

The scheme maintains a formal bifurcation between a Growth Portfolio targeting long-term real returns and a Matching Portfolio tasked with hedging liability-driven risks. The Matching Portfolio holds UK government bonds, investment-grade credit, and LDI overlays — overseen by Legal & General Investment Management — while the Growth Portfolio allocates to global equities, private equity, infrastructure, and real estate. Exact weightings are not publicly disclosed, but the plan's statement of investment principles emphasizes a deliberate overweight to illiquid assets given the closed-and-maturing liability profile.

EYRBP accesses private markets primarily through fund commitments rather than direct co-investments. The plan has historically appointed private-market managers via IC Select and external advisory panels, focusing on UK and European general partners. Limited direct investment activity reflects the governance preference of a closed defined-benefit scheme where trustee resources prioritize manager oversight over deal-level underwriting.

No. The defined-benefit plan was closed to future accrual in 2010, making it a mature, zero-contribution scheme whose liabilities are entirely legacy. Active EY UK employees participate in separate defined-contribution arrangements. The DB scheme's closed status shapes its entire investment posture: cashflow generation to meet benefit payments and a liability-hedging framework calibrated to an aging, non-accruing membership.

As of the March 2024 annual report, the plan disclosed a funding ratio approaching 100% on a technical provisions basis, a significant improvement from prior years. Rising bond yields and mark-to-market private-asset valuations drove the recovery. This reduced the deficit-reduction contribution schedule required from sponsoring employer Ernst & Young LLP, and positions the scheme close to a buyout-ready surplus under current UK regulatory assumptions.

As a Big Four professional-services firm, EY employs a large cohort of actuaries, accountants, and investment professionals — a talent pool that indirectly strengthens the plan's governance. The corporate trustee structure allows the sponsor to contribute technical expertise to investment committee deliberations, and the in-house pensions team operates with professional standards rare among single-sponsor schemes. This creates an embedded governance advantage, though the plan remains subject to The Pensions Regulator's standard framework for closed DB schemes.

The plan's statement of investment principles includes responsible-investment and ESG policies aligned with EY's corporate sustainability commitments, though it delegates voting and engagement to external fund managers. Climate scenario analysis has been incorporated into the trustee board's long-term risk assessments, and the Growth Portfolio's private-market commitments increasingly carry fund-level ESG reporting requirements. No explicit fossil-fuel exclusion is in place; the plan maintains engagement as its primary stewardship tool.