L1 Renewables
In 2015, USS purchased a loan book from the Co-operative Bank, which provided finance for 34 UK-based wind farms in regions ranging from the far north of Scotland to the south coast of Cornwall. In 2017, we added a large new portfolio of project finance loans in the renewable energy sector and created the L1 Renewables platform we own today.
L1, 100% owned by USS, owns interests in a diverse range of renewable energy technologies including energy from waste, onshore wind, energy efficient street lighting and solar. In total, L1 now manages a portfolio worth in excess of £400m which supports developed projects. USS’s wind farms provide enough energy to light around 400,000 homes. At the same time, L1 supplies power to around 172,432 energy efficient streetlights across five local authorities.
Sparrow Shared Ownership
In 2024, USS invested £405m in more than 3,000 shared ownership homes across the UK — the largest acquisition of its kind since the creation of the shared ownership scheme in 1990. Following this, we launched Sparrow Shared Ownership (a portfolio of energy efficient homes) as a registered provider regulated by the Regulator of Social Housing. The investment delivers high quality, long duration, inflation linked exposure for USS and frees up capital in the sector to reinvest in new homes and much needed maintenance.
Staythorpe Battery Energy Storage System
We provided financing for the development of one of the UK’s largest battery energy storage systems, in collaboration with Elements Green and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. This investment strengthens our growing renewable energy credit portfolio — supporting the UK’s energy system while investing in the best financial interests of our members. Once operational, the battery storage project will be one of the largest of its kind in the UK and should play a vital role in enhancing grid stability, supporting the integration of renewable energy, and advancing the UK's net zero ambitions.
Moto
USS is the controlling shareholder of Moto and has been invested in the business since 2015. Moto is the leader in motorway service areas in the UK and is building one of the largest on-route electrical charging networks in the country to support its goal of becoming the UK’s number one on-route electric charging destination. Moto continues to progress towards this goal by expanding the number of ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargers (>250kW) at its sites across the UK. By the end of 2025, Moto had installed 1,009 high-power charging bays across 48 sites, alongside 110 medium-power chargers, all while advancing plans for eHGV charging.
Moto was also recognised in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024 list and named in the Top 10 Best Places to Work for very large companies (2k+ employees).
Bruc
USS invested in BRUC in 2021 and is the joint controlling shareholder. BRUC is one of Spain’s leading renewable energy groups, with a portfolio that includes solar photovoltaic, wind, and energy storage assets totalling 6.6 GW across projects in operation, construction, and development.
In 2025, BRUC reached 2 GW of installed solar PV capacity, generating enough renewable energy to power around 900,000 Spanish homes, and avoided 1 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
Peco Pallet
PECO is a leading company in the transportation and logistics sector in North America. Its pallets are used by manufacturers to ship grocery and consumer products efficiently and sustainably to retailers throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Its extensive North American service network includes over 40 full-service depots, over 50 sort and storage facilities, and around 2,900 pallet recovery locations that manage approximately 70 million annual pallet issues across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. It owns a pool of approximately 22 million wood block pallets that primarily serve food and beverage manufacturers in shipping their goods in a sustainable, cost-effective manner. Its current customer list includes some of the biggest known names in food and beverage, paper, fresh produce, health/medical, and other consumer packaged goods.
SMS
SMS delivers energy, low-carbon and water infrastructure solutions that help create more sustainable homes, businesses, and communities. It's a fully integrated Meter Asset Provider with over 6 million smart meters in the UK, making it one of the country’s top three smart meter operators. Smart meters play an important role in the energy transition by enabling real-time energy monitoring, improving the accuracy of consumption data, and helping consumers better manage and reduce their energy use. SMS is also an example of the long-term, inflation-linked cash flows we look for in an investment, supporting our ability to meet our long-term pension promises.
The company is continuing to expand into providing funded, scalable solutions for rooftop solar, heat pumps, EV charging infrastructure and other energy and low-carbon technologies that further support the energy transition.
Cambois data centre
We partnered with Blackstone to invest in a 1 GW data centre campus in the north of England — a hyperscale data centre campus that represents the kind of resilient, future-facing asset that aligns with our long-duration, inflation-linked investment approach. The potential £10bn development will be the largest data centre in Europe and could put the area in the north of England at the forefront of a critical and growing industry.
The site is located near an abundance of renewable power sources, including offshore wind and biomass, and equally innovative data centre cooling systems can use closed-loop water systems with impressive water usage efficiency.
Assura
In 2024, we entered a joint venture with specialist healthcare property investor and developer Assura (now acquired by PHP), the UK’s leading specialist healthcare REIT. This diversified portfolio helps to support investment in essential NHS infrastructure, specifically essential primary care and other NHS community healthcare buildings. It provides exposure to long duration inflation linked rents backed by UK government, supported by tailwinds such as an ageing population and the UK government’s stated intention to move services away from hospitals and into the community.
Grand Arcade, Cambridge
A prime shopping centre in Cambridge, Grand Arcade, opened in 2008 and covers circa 450,000 sq ft. The centre is anchored by a John Lewis with 50 other units including Apple, Hollister and North Face. An Everyman cinema has recently been added, offering a leisure use and complementing the existing retail offering. There are several other exciting asset management initiatives that are progressing which will enhance the offer to the customers and continue our long-term investment.
Picture Living
Picture Living is a joint venture with Places for People, investing across the UK’s private rented sector. USS provides the core funding for the partnership, whilst Thriving Investments (a wholly owned subsidiary of Places for People) acts as asset manager. The portfolio consists of around 1,600 professionally managed single-family houses or low-rise modern apartments, of which 93% have an EPC rating of A to C. The average rent is around 25% below the UK average.
Visit our dedicated page to see where some of our public market investments are located.