Largest 300 Global Pensions’ Assets Grow by 13.4% in 2025

The 300 largest pension funds in the world saw their assets grow by 13.4% in 2025, reaching a record $27.7 trillion, according to a new report from WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute—reflecting the growth of defined contribution plans and the maturity of defined benefit systems.

The latest year’s asset growth for these institutions far outpaces 2024’s 7.9% increase—2025 also marks the largest increase in pension assets since 2017, according to the Thinking Ahead Institute.

Defined benefit assets accounted for 57.8% of all pension assets in 2025, followed by defined contribution (28.5%), reserve funds (12.8%) and hybrid funds (0.9%).

North American institutions accounted for 44.7% of all pension assets among the 300 largest funds; followed by Asia-Pacific (26.6%) and Europe (24.6%). The top 300 funds accounted for 40.6% of all global pension assets, as estimated by TAI.

Industry Trends

The Thinking Ahead Institute notes that while the largest pension funds are largely DB plans, DC assets are growing faster—at 15.8%, compared with 9.4% for DB assets. The report notes that globally DC plans are growing in prominence in many markets, such as in the Netherlands, where the country is currently shifting from a DB to a DC system.

While DC plans are capturing growth, the report notes that the greater responsibility that plan structure puts on individual savers for retirement outcomes could present challenges for retirees.

“DC systems have become very effective at accumulating assets during working life, supported by scale, defaults, governance and institutional pricing,” the report said. “The weakness appears at retirement, when those benefits often fall away. As members move from saving to spending, they frequently transition from a structured institutional environment into a more individual and fragmented market, where decisions become more complex and support can be less consistent.”