Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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Key definition

Master trust definition

What does Master trust mean? A master trust is a single trust-based occupational pension scheme, usually providing defined contribution (DC) benefits, that multiple unconnected employers can join to provide workplace pension benefits through one trustee board and common governance. Across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, “master trust scheme” is a statutory concept in the Pension Schemes Act 2017 (and corresponding NI legislation). It covers occupational pension schemes (other than public service pension schemes) used, or intended to be used, by two or more employers that are not connected, and which provide money purchase benefits. These schemes require authorisation and ongoing supervision by The...

Master trusts: legal definitions, structure, parties and documents, governance, auto‑enrolment and the authorisation and supervisory regime

Published by a LexisNexis Pensions expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note provides an overview of Master trust schemes, outlining, among other aspects, the benefits of adopting these pension arrangements, their usual framework and governing documents, the role and position of scheme trustees, and related governance considerations.

For further details on the authorisation and supervisory regime for master trusts effective from 1 October 2018, please refer to Practice Note: The authorisation and supervisory regime for master trusts.

What are master trusts?

Several definitions of master trusts have been developed over time.

Early definition by the Pensions Regulator

The Pensions Regulator was the first to seek to define master trusts, doing so in November 2013 when it issued its initial Code of Practice on defined contribution (DC) schemes.

That Code characterised master trusts as trust-based occupational pension schemes (for the purposes of section 1 of the Pension Schemes Act 1993 (PSA 1993)) which are:

set up and established by a product provider
operated for the benefit of a number of non-associated employers, and
not structured so that each employer sits within its own segregated section with its own dedicated trustees

For the purposes of this definition, employers were treated as associated where they formed part of the same corporate group...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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