The world's 300 largest pension funds increased their total assets under management by 13.4 per cent in 2025, the strongest annual growth since 2017, WTW's Thinking Ahead Institute has reported.

The firm’s report, Global Top 300 Pension Funds, found that growth was particularly pronounced among the largest pension funds, as the world's 20 largest corresponding institutions increased their assets by 14.7 per cent to USD 11.9trn. 

"The largest global pension funds are growing and at the same time looking for new ways to strengthen their performance,” WTW senior managing director investments, Nikolaus Schmidt-Narischkin, commented.

“Scaling remains important, but the ability to combine knowledge, technology, data and strong governance is crucial to make better investment decisions and respond to an increasingly complex environment.”

The top pension fund was Norway’s Government Pension Fund, followed by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund in second place and the USA’s Federal Retirement Thrift in third.

Three European funds made the top 20: Norway’s Government Pension Fund, the Netherlands’ ABP, and the Netherlands’ PFZW.

Overall, North America remained the largest region, accounting for 44.7 per cent of the top 300 pension funds' total wealth, although that share has fallen from 47.2 per cent year-on-year. 

Over the five years to 2025, North America recorded the strongest annualised growth among the major regions at 6.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Europe increased its share of the total wealth of the top 300 from 23.7 per cent in 2024 to 24.6 per cent in 2025.

WTW explained the growth was largely driven by Norway’s Government Pension Fund, which exceeded the USD 2trn mark for the first time.

The fund has also furthered its lead on Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, with its assets now 12.7 per cent larger than the Japanese fund.

The report also found that the UK and the Netherlands were the only markets to record negative asset developments over the past five years, both in local currency and in USD.

According to WTW, although both countries remain Europe's two largest pension markets, they are characterised by mature pension systems with a significant defined benefit portfolio.

The firm explained that the development in the UK and the Netherlands reflects a broader change in many developed countries, where defined contribution systems are on the rise.

The report also showed that many developed countries’ established pension systems are increasingly balancing growth with payouts, de-risking activities and changing structures.

Europe continues to have the lowest share of defined contribution assets at 13.2 per cent, compared to 30.7 per cent in Asia-Pacific and 31.6 per cent in North America.

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