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Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme
Alan Baker chairs the Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme, a $4.9B closed defined-benefit plan sponsored by Holcim Group and run via fiduciary managers.
Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme
The Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme was established in 2014 to secure the defined-benefit promises of Lafarge, Blue Circle, and Redland — legacy names in British cement, aggregates, and concrete. The plan is sponsored by Lafarge S.A., now a subsidiary of the Swiss-based Holcim Group, and its trustee board operates under the independent chairmanship of Alan Baker of Law Debenture. The scheme serves a closed population: former employees managing retirement income with no active accrual. A multi-asset mandate runs through fiduciary managers — the plan does not directly staff an internal investment team. The capital is deployed across buyout funds, direct secondaries and special-situations vehicles, fund-of-funds structures, generalist venture, and co-investment sleeves. The plan also maintains a direct-property portfolio holding UK commercial assets and has executed a longevity-swap transaction with Munich Re to hedge member lifespan risk. A material slice of assets sits inside a Liability Driven Investment (LDI) framework, a common architecture among UK defined-benefit schemes seeking to match asset and liability cash flows. Administrative scale is difficult to observe: the scheme does not publish a transparent annual report or headcount, and its defined-contribution section was transferred to the Aon MasterTrust in 2020, leaving a pure defined-benefit residual. The trustee board also oversees the Aggregate Industries Pension Plan, a sister Holcim-sponsored scheme, creating a small internal cluster under the same governance umbrella. Membership in the Principles for Responsible Investment and adherence to the UK Stewardship Code serve as the primary public signaling on governance. The plan's structural differentiator is its posture as a legacy-defined-benefit run-off with a fiduciary-management overlay rather than an in-house CIO. That architecture, common in UK corporate pensions post-liability-transfer, concentrates decision rights with the trustee board and externalized managers. The longevity swap and LDI program are standard for a closed plan of this size, but the willingness to layer direct secondaries, co-investment, and venture exposure on top of the core de-risking program sets it slightly apart from a plain-vanilla LDI-driven scheme.
General information
Firm type
Pension Fund
Year founded
2014
AUM
$4.9B (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
Europe
Country
United Kingdom
City
Dorking
Corporate office
Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom
Principals
Alan Baker
Independent Chairman of the Trustee Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions for the Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme?
The trustee board, chaired by Alan Baker of Law Debenture, holds fiduciary responsibility for investment governance. Day-to-day asset allocation and manager selection are delegated to external fiduciary managers, a structure the plan adopted after closing to new accrual. The scheme does not publish the identities of its current fiduciary manager or investment consultants.
How does the scheme's sponsor relationship with Holcim Group function?
Lafarge S.A., the original sponsoring employer, became a subsidiary of the Swiss building-materials giant Holcim Group following the 2015 merger of Lafarge and Holcim. The pension scheme is a legacy obligation of the UK operating entity and receives financial backing under the UK statutory funding framework. The trustee board also oversees the Aggregate Industries Pension Plan, another Holcim-sponsored UK scheme, creating a shared-governance structure.
Is the plan open to new members or still accruing benefits?
No. The scheme serves only former employees of Lafarge, Blue Circle, and Redland. Active defined-benefit accrual has ceased, and the defined-contribution section was transferred to the Aon MasterTrust in 2020. The remaining plan is a closed defined-benefit pool in run-off, focused on paying benefits to existing pensioners and deferred members.
What private-market exposures does the scheme hold?
The plan deploys capital across buyout funds, direct secondaries, special-situations vehicles, fund-of-funds structures, generalist venture, and co-investment opportunities. It also owns a direct commercial-property portfolio in the United Kingdom and has executed a longevity-swap transaction with Munich Re to hedge member lifespan risk.
Does the scheme publish an annual report with full asset disclosures?
The scheme maintains a minimal public-facing website focused on member administration and does not appear to publish a comprehensive annual report or statement of investment principles with detailed portfolio disclosures. Peer UK defined-benefit schemes of similar scale typically file full accounts with the Pensions Regulator, but those are not surfaced on the plan's own digital channels.
How does the Lafarge U.K. Pension Scheme use liability-driven investing?
The plan maintains a dedicated Liability Driven Investment (LDI) portfolio, a standard tool for UK defined-benefit schemes seeking to reduce funding-level volatility by matching asset cash flows to projected benefit payments. The exact composition of the LDI book — whether gilts-based, swaps-based, or leveraged — is not publicly disclosed.
How is the plan governed and what stewardship codes does it follow?
The trustee board, chaired independently by Alan Baker, governs the scheme under UK trust law. The scheme and its fiduciary managers are signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment and adhere to the UK Stewardship Code, providing a public commitment to ESG integration and active ownership through delegated managers.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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