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An archive of information from the 2017 valuation.

The last few weeks have witnessed the biggest stockmarket crash since 2008 and the difficult news keeps coming. Leisure industries are being hit hard and small businesses and more financially leveraged businesses will suffer. Following several years of relatively benign conditions, 2020 has changed that course in a dramatic way.

When I was offered the role of Chief Pensions Officer at USS, the high calibre of its people and its commitment to quality and value really appealed to me. Recently, I’ve been reflecting on if and how my initial expectations, shaped from the outside looking in, have been met or changed over the course of my first 100 days in post.

The original reasons for holding a 2020 valuation still hold. Our primary legal duty as Trustee is to protect the benefits promised to, or accrued by, USS members to date. Active members are accruing new benefits every day, so any underfunding of new promises can very quickly put us at odds with our primary duty. At the valuation date, the Scheme’s funding position had deteriorated significantly – the benefits already promised to our members were at risk of being under-funded.

Our valuation for 2020 will be based on a 'snapshot' of the Scheme on 31 March 2020. However, the process itself will run well into 2021. By law, we must complete it within 15 months - so by 30 June 2021. There are a number of milestones we need to reach on the way, set out in this timeline.

For a projection of your benefits at your normal pension age or to see how retiring earlier or later might affect your benefits, you can use our Benefit Calculator. The calculator can support you in a number of ways depending on what stage of the USS journey you’re at. It can also help you to explore the options you have when you take your benefits and savings and see how making changes or saving more could impact what you get.

How we work with the companies we invest in, to ensure we can pay members’ pensions into the future.

You have different options open to you depending on your age. And even if you’re not able to start taking your benefits yet, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for your future.

Response to the report of the Information Commissioner's Office.