Cartwright's Sam Roberts says Bitcoin won’t be the right fit for every scheme, but it deserves to be part of the conversation.
The UK pension fund understood to be the first to make an allocation to Bitcoin has seen a return of 56% from the cryptocurrency in the year since it invested.
Cartwright Pension Trusts – the firm that advised the unnamed £50m pension scheme on its 3% Bitcoin allocation – said that, as of 22 October 2025, the scheme's holding had grown by some 56% in value, marking what it said was a "significant boost" to the scheme's overall funding position.
The advisory firm said during this period, Bitcoin had outperformed gold, which rose by 44% over the same period; global equities, which increased by 16%; and UK government gilts, which saw a zero return.
Cartwright director of investment consulting Sam Roberts said: "Although it's important to highlight that this remains a long-term strategy, it feels only right to take a moment to look at the impact one year in.
"The allocation was made just weeks before the US election result when Bitcoin was trading just above £51,000. Since then, it has reached several new all-time highs. The resulting return has had a tangible impact on the funding level of the scheme, far exceeding the performance delivered by other major asset classes over the same period."
At the time, in an article for Professional Pensions, Roberts pointed towards Bitcoin's long-term asymmetric growth potential, inflation resistance, good diversification against other investments, and near-zero counterparty risk as some of the benefits of the move.
Despite this one-year performance, however, the price of Bitcoin has fallen back over the past few weeks from around $107,000 (£80,000) on 22 October to about $92,000 (£68,000) on 9 December. This would reduce the scheme's return since investment to around 37%.
At the same time, the price of gold has increased markedly – rising from around $2,700 (£2,017) per troy ounce on 23 October last year to $4,050 (£3,025) per troy ounce on 22 October and $4,200 (£3,100) per troy ounce on 9 December. In the period from 23 October 2024 to 9 December, this represents an increase of around 55%.
Roberts noted it was "still early days" and added this investment "remained a long-term investment" but said the allocation to Bitcoin did provide an example of what pension schemes could achieve if they were willing to think differently.
He said: "It won't be the right fit for every scheme, but it deserves to be part of the conversation. The fact that it's now a legitimate option on the table is, in itself, a solid step forward."
An informed, risk -based approach
Cartwright said the scheme's investment in the cryptocurrency followed an extensive programme of training and due diligence, during which trustees of the scheme agreed to make a modest strategic Bitcoin allocation in light of their long-term investment horizon.
Roberts said: "As with most innovations through history, progress relies on forward thinking and open-mindedness. The trustee board was willing to listen, learn, and take an informed, risk-based approach. It required just three things: an open-mind, the time commitment to understand the rationale – both risks and rewards, and the tolerance to accept the inherent volatility of the asset."
