Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pensions pool employer and employee contributions into a shared fund, targeting stable retirement incomes while sharing investment and longevity risk across members.
They offer predictable outcomes without traditional DB funding volatility. CDC has the potential to deliver retirement incomes around 30-50% higher than in standard DC (depending on assumptions). To explore CDC for your organisation, get in touch with us.
We believe CDC has a major role to play in the future of UK retirement savings.
Turning that opportunity into a successful scheme requires careful design, strong governance and clear communication. If you'd like to talk about how CDC could work for your organisation, please get in touch with one of our team.
CDC combines features of defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB). Contributions are fixed, but benefits are paid as an income for life from a collective fund. Investment and longevity risks are shared across members.
We support clients across:
Our teams combine actuarial, investment and longevity expertise with active engagement across policy and regulatory developments.
Our CDC Applied Integrated Risk™ (AIR) model underpins our CDC design advice. CDC AIR™ is available under a licence agreement or as part of a wider consulting project.
Providers can use this to:
Accrual vs increases | Pension vs protection | Simplicity vs tailored | Stepping up and small pots | High earners | AVCs | Transfers in
Beliefs | Strategy | Asset allocation | Manager selection | Monitoring
Setting and achieving member expectations | Member cross-subsidies | Discount rate approach | How structure impacts risks shared
As the UK enters the next phase of CDC regulation, our latest publication explores how these changes could reshape retirement outcomes across the industry.
Read moreClients choose us because we combine policy insight with practical delivery. We have experience working with multiple clients at various stages of feasibility, design and implementation of multi-employer whole-of-life schemes and Retirement CDC schemes. We bring:
Deep experience across DC, risk sharing and at retirement solutions
Robust asset and liability modelling capability
Practical experience of scheme design and regulatory engagement
Clear, member focused communication
A strong focus on delivering better retirement outcomes
Market-leading longevity insight from Club Vita™
It’s a very exciting time for CDC. Single employer CDC schemes are possible and the Royal Mail scheme is live and established. Whole of life CDC schemes will go live in 2027. Retirement-only schemes are not far behind.
CDC has the potential to deliver retirement incomes around 30-50% higher than in standard DC (depending on assumptions). It provides members with a lifetime income, supports clearer decision-making, and is trustee-led. This comes with trade-offs, including reduced flexibility, limited legacy benefits, and potential for income volatility, but CDC can play a meaningful role in improving retirement outcomes.
A CDC pension is a type of workplace pension where employer and employee contributions are pooled into a shared fund. Instead of building individual pension pots, members share investment and longevity risk, with the aim of providing a lifetime income that is more stable, and predictable than defined contribution (DC) pensions.
In a DC scheme, each member builds an individual pot and is responsible for decisions on how that fund is used in retirement, bearing all investment and longevity risk. In a CDC scheme, contributions are pooled, and risks are shared collectively, which can help provide higher and more predictable retirement incomes on average, although pension levels can still go up or down over time.
In the UK, CDC schemes can be set up for a single employer, connected employers or multiple unconnected employers. Trustees must apply to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) for authorisation before the scheme can operate. Multi-employer CDC schemes must also meet extra requirements around governance, financial sustainability, communication and scheme promotion.
The UK Government is also consulting on legislation to allow retirement-only CDC schemes, which would enable pension savers to use their existing DC savings to access a collective income in retirement.
New Hymans Robertson research on UK DC pension adequacy, retirement income and Collective Defined Contribution. Download the 2026 market report.
How greater flexibility in collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions could improve retirement outcomes for UK savers. Explore the trade-offs between security, income and choice.
Discover how open DB schemes, superfunds and CDC arrangements can deliver long-term value for members in this live panel discussion from our Pensions and Retirement Conference 2026.
Collective Defined Contribution pensions are gaining momentum in the UK. Learn how single and multi-employer CDC schemes could benefit employers and staff.
See our latest thinking on government policy regulation and the future of pensions.
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