Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assets will count towards the £25 billion requirement for a Main Scale Default Arrangement under the Pension Schemes Bill; and whether assets held in default funds only, or across all scheme investments, will be included.

The Government set out its intended approach concerning the Main Scale Default Arrangements (MSDA) in the May 2025 consultation response and final report of the Pensions Investment Review. We have also recently published Pension Schemes Bill: Scale and Consolidation on Gov.UK to give an overview of the government’s direction of travel ahead of detailed consultation on regulations.

As outlined in the final report of the Review, key benefits of scale are realised at the level on which strategic decisions on investment are made. This is generally at an ‘arrangement’ level.

To meet the scale requirement, a provider must demonstrate that it holds assets of at least £25 billion in their MSDA.

These assets may be counted from a number of connected schemes offered by a single provider, but they must all be managed under a common investment strategy.

Further details will be set out in regulations following formal consultation.