Foreword
DC pensions have become the dominant model in the global pension landscape, surpassing DC in asset share and is expected to accelerate fast. This shift has brought with it both possibility and responsibility: possibility to build better retirement outcomes at scale; responsibility to do so with care, innovation, and boldness.
At TAI, we’ve been tracking this journey for some time. Our 2018 global best practice peer study, which led to the report Shifts for the DC organisation of tomorrow, surfaced early insights into the next generation of best practices in DC. Our future of pensions working group deepened the exploration into the kind of system we need next, published in the Pensions aren’t what they used to be… a glimpse into the future paper. This year, in collaboration with LifeSight and Aware Super, we conducted our 2025 global DC peer study to further explore current and emerging global best practice among DC organisations. Through 20 deep 1-2-1 conversations, an extensive survey and desk research, we captured the views of some of the leading DC organisations around the world. This summary report presents the key messages from this peer study, data highlights and interview insights. It also include some of the key findings on investment beliefs, governance, how DC funds invest, and peers’ perspectives on retirement income, technology adoption, and systemic ris k. The most pressing concern is retirement income, still unresolved. Alongside this, important questions are being raised about whe ther members’ money is being left on the table during the accumulation phase. Private markets offer hope, but constraints around cost, governance and operational readiness continue to hold many funds back. And in service delivery, cracks are showing, delays in payments and claims threaten member trust in a system. A few messages stand out: the importance of grounding everything in member outcomes; the critical need to unify accumulation and decumulation; the tension between scale and customisation; the opportunity of embracing the total portfolio approach; and the urgency of managing not only financial risk, but also the systemic risks that define our age. We are deeply grateful to all the participants who gave their time and insights so generously. It is their openness and willingness to contribute candidly and selflessly that have made this collective learning possible. Their thoughtful input reflects a spirit of collaboration that strengthens the entire system. We hope this peer study serves as a useful insights and, more importantly, as a springboard for future progress. Because the challenges ahead are not only about better portfolios or better platforms, they are about building a DC system that is fit for all our DC members. More to come as we move forward together.
Tim Hodgson Co-founder of the Thinking Ahead Institute
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