#25 Leaders in Investment podcast: Simon Pilcher, Chief Executive Officer, USS Investment Management

#25 Leaders in Investment podcast: Simon Pilcher, Chief Executive Officer, USS Investment Management

From Leaders in Investment - IPE by IPE

December 15, 2025 · 40 min · Season 1 · Episode 25

About this episode

Simon Pilcher discusses USS Investment Management's strategies and goals in investment management and sustainability.

In conversation with Liam Kennedy, Editorial Director, IPE. In this episode of IPE’s Leaders in Investment, Simon Pilcher, CEO of USS Investment Management, asset manager for the UK’s £77bn Universities Superannuation Scheme discusses their role as a universal owner, the advantages of running an open defined benefit scheme and successfully moving the scheme from a deficit position to a £10bn+ surplus. The discussion covers the fund’s high allocation to private markets and significant in-house investment capability which supports that; their decision to right-size investment risk by increasing exposure to rates and to inflation and their goal for its portfolio to be net carbon zero by 2050 or earlier. This episode of Leaders in Investment is sponsored by PGIM. “We need to get governments and regulators to make it not only financially viable for people to change, but also easy for people to change. Let's make it easy for people to decarbonise.” In this podcast series from IPE and IPE Real Assets, members of our editorial team speak to leading figures in the institutional investor community to curate a library of in-depth, focused…

People in this episode

Host: Liam Kennedy

Guest: Simon Pilcher

Topics covered

  • investment management
  • sustainability
  • private markets
  • defined benefit schemes
  • carbon neutrality

Keywords

  • USS Investment Management
  • Simon Pilcher
  • private markets
  • carbon zero
  • defined benefit scheme

Sponsors

PGIM

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: USS Investment Management, IPE

Places: UK, Universities Superannuation Scheme

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