Top three consultancies see 10.8% rise in revenues in 2021

Combined pensions turnover of Mercer, WTW and Aon grew to £1.35bn at the end of last year

Jonathan Stapleton
clock • 2 min read
Top three consultancies see 10.8% rise in revenues in 2021

The revenue of the three biggest pension consultancy firms in the UK increased by 10.8% in 2021, increasing from £1.22bn in the 2020 financial year to £1.35bn in 2021.

PP's analysis of company accounts - found the main UK pensions entity of Mercer - Mercer Limited - posted a 20% increase in revenue from £446m in the 12 months to 31/12/2020 to £537m in the year to 31/12/2021.

Willis Towers Watson's UK pensions business - Towers Watson Limited - saw a 5.8% increase in turnover from £486.5m in 2020 to £514.5m in 2021.

Aon's UK business - Aon Solutions UK Limited - also saw a rise in revenue, from £286.1m to £298.5m.

The next biggest five firms - Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP), Capita Pension Solutions, XPS Pensions Group, Barnett Waddingham and Hymans Robertson - all posted strong revenue growth, although most had different year end dates to the big three consultancies, which all report on 31 December.

LCP saw its revenue rise from £126.5m in the 12 months to 31/03/2020 to £142.1m in the year to 31 March 2021. It has also released revenue figures to the end of March this year, which show turnover of £149.0m.

Capita Pension Solutions saw a sharp rise in its revenue from £87.4m in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 to £128.2m in the year to 31 December 2021 - but the firm did restructure its pensions businesses in 2020.

XPS Pensions Group saw its turnover rise from £119.8m in the year to 31 March 2020 to £127.9m in the year to 31 March 2021. It has also published 2022 figures, showing further growth to £138.6m in the 12 months to the end of March this year.

Barnett Waddingham posted a rise in revenue from £107.9m in the year ended 31 May 2020 to to £112.9m in the year ending 31 May 2021.

Hymans Robertson saw its revenue fall slightly from £96.0m in the year to the end of March 2020 to £95.6m in the year to the end of March 2021. Its 2022 figures show income of £103.0m to 31 March 2022.

In total, the 14 consultancy firms analysed by Professional Pensions posted total revenues of £2.21bn in the 2021 financial year, up 13% from £1.95bn the previous year.

View the analysis in full here

More on Industry

News Digest: Triple lock for pensions to be in Tory manifesto

News Digest: Triple lock for pensions to be in Tory manifesto

PP brings together all the latest news on pensions from across the national and financial media

Professional Pensions
clock 25 March 2024 • 1 min read
Good News Corner: LCP Foundation supports two charities with £140,000

Good News Corner: LCP Foundation supports two charities with £140,000

Trinity Winchester and The Felix Project will benefit from a £70,000 grant each

Jasmine Urquhart
clock 22 March 2024 • 1 min read
Margaret Snowdon announced as keynote speaker at PP Live

Margaret Snowdon announced as keynote speaker at PP Live

Pensions Scams Industry Group chair to speak at PP’s flagship event in London on 22 May

Professional Pensions
clock 22 March 2024 • 1 min read
Trustpilot