# Willis Group UK Pension Fund

Willis Group UK Pension Fund is a Pension Fund based in London, United Kingdom.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** London, United Kingdom
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** London, United Kingdom
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** epa.towerswatson.com

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Willis Group UK Pension Fund is the legacy defined-benefit scheme for the eponymous insurance brokerage, now part of the publicly traded Willis Towers Watson. The scheme has been closed to new accruals, transforming it from a growing corporate plan into a maturing liability book where capital preservation dominates over return-seeking. The sponsor, Willis Limited, sits under the WTW umbrella, meaning the pension fund's fate is underwritten by the credit of a global professional services firm. Strategy today centers on liability-hedging and income generation. The portfolio allocates across a UK-focused direct property and infrastructure sleeve — holding mixed-use real assets — alongside a pool of secure-income assets designed to match cashflows to retiree payments. The most structurally significant position is a longevity swap transacted with Munich Re in Guernsey, a reinsurance arrangement that transfers the risk of members living longer than expected off the scheme's balance sheet and onto a highly rated counterparty. This transaction is a classic endgame move for a closed UK pension fund. Peter Routledge chairs the trustee board, a role that demands strict independence under UK pension law. The scheme participates in climate-focused initiatives through its stewardship provider, which is active in the Principles for Responsible Investment and the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change. The scheme's architecture is emblematic of the UK's post-Brexit pension endgame: a closed book of liabilities managed by an outsourced fiduciary, a hard-currency real-asset portfolio for inflation protection, and a large-scale longevity swap that effectively converts it into an insurance-company-like entity. The governance model relies on a professional trustee chair and a sponsor-aligned service provider to steer the ship to buyout or full self-sufficiency.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Infrastructure
- Insurance-Linked Securities

## People

- Peter Routledge — Chair of the Willis Pension Trustees Limited

## Questions

### Is the scheme still open to new members?

No. The UK plan is closed to new participants. It is a legacy defined-benefit arrangement, meaning its only remaining function is to pay accrued benefits to existing members and pensioners.

### Who administers the scheme's investments?

The scheme's documentation and administration are managed by WTW via its public portal. Given WTW's parent-subsidiary relationship with the scheme sponsor, Willis Towers Watson almost certainly provides fiduciary management services to the scheme, creating a structure where the sponsor's parent company both manages and is the counterparty for key services.

### Is this pension fund connected to Willis Towers Watson's own corporate treasury?

No. Under UK trust law, the scheme's assets are held in a separate trust and are legally ring-fenced from the sponsor. While Willis Limited is the principal employer and WTW provides administrative services, the trustee board, chaired by Peter Routledge, has a fiduciary duty to act solely in the interest of beneficiaries.

## Related profiles

- [Willis Group Pension Scheme](https://altss.com/profile/willis-group-pension-scheme)
- [Willis Johnson & Associates](https://altss.com/profile/willis-johnson-associates)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

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