Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the causes of variation in member outcomes between workplace pension schemes.

The main driver of outcomes for Defined Contribution (DC) savers is investment returns. The Pension Schemes Act Impact Assessment estimated investment returns could account for over two-thirds of DC pot value at retirement. Variation in outcomes can also reflect differences in contributions being made, costs and charges, and governance quality across schemes.

Investment returns vary across the market. Analysis of Corporate Adviser data from Q42025 shows annualised investment returns for younger savers 30 years from their retirement currently vary across the DC market by over eight percentage points per year (from 14.3% annual returns to 5.5%), primarily due to differences in asset allocation and investment strategy, as well as broader market and macroeconomic performance.