Railpen

Railpen — official GBP RPS net assets £36.254bn (31 Dec 2025). Chief Executive Andy Bord; Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig. Soft: Railway Pension Scheme / RPMI.

UAO Editorial September 11, 2026 46 min read

Registry · Top 100 · United Kingdom · railways occupational pensions · elite 86

Last researched: 11 September 2026 (America/Toronto). Corrections: info@universalassetowners.com. Public-safe profile: no private staff emails or personal phones.

Executive brief

Railpen (Railpen Limited) is the member-first operating company that administers and — together with FCA-regulated sister subsidiary Railway Pension Investments Limited (RPIL) — invests the UK railways pension schemes on behalf of corporate trustee Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (RPTCL). Soft discovery strings: Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme (RPS), RPMI, RPTCL, RPIL. Official site: railpen.com.

Headline scale in official GBP only — no invented USD AUM on this profile. The RPS 2025 Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements Statement of Net Assets reports Scheme net assets of £36,254 million (£36.254 billion) at 31 December 2025 (YE2024 £34,170 million). The Chair’s Introduction frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion, driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns despite benefit payments exceeding contributions. Homepage / Who we are language: managing around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members of the railways pension schemes. How-we-invest: around £36 billion with over 95% in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section-clients.

Leadership locks from live Instant and official ExCom / board pages: Chief Executive Andy Bord (October 2024); Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig (Instant maps as cio — keep the official title honest); Railpen Board Chair Mike Craston (Independent Director); CFO Nick Ranson; Chief Risk Officer Helen Whelan. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the AR 2025 Chair’s Introduction and notes her Chair term ending with a successor expected September 2026.

Why researchers care: Railpen concentrates one of the UK’s largest still-open multi-employer DB franchises tied to the rail industry; runs a hybrid internal/external pooled-fund model with a published six-belief investment philosophy and official video series; and publishes a dense R&A, stewardship, net-zero and TCFD stack under Trustee oversight. Related UAO hubs: USS, ATP, ABP, PFZW, OTPP, CPP Investments, CalPERS, Aware Super.

Speakable summary

Railpen is the UK railways pensions administrator and investment operating group under the Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited. Prefer official pounds sterling: Railways Pension Scheme net assets were about thirty-six point two five four billion pounds at thirty-one December two thousand twenty-five. Andy Bord is Chief Executive. Mads Gosvig is Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management — Instant maps the seat as cio but keep the official title. Do not invent a US-dollar headline AUM.

Mandate & ownership

Official who-we-are purpose: secure our members’ future. Railpen’s heritage narrative places origins in 1965 as the pensions office for the British Rail Pension Scheme, with Darlington framed as home to the world’s first public railway. The modern Railways Pension Scheme was created in 1994 after privatisation of the railway industry and reorganisation of the BR Pension Scheme. It is the largest of the four pension schemes managed by the Trustee and one of the largest schemes in the UK.

Mandate in plain language from Trustee materials: pay members’ benefits securely, affordably and sustainably. The Trustee Board comprises 16 Directors — half nominated by employers and half by members — so that major stakeholders across the railways pension schemes have a voice in governance. Railpen’s role is delegated by the Trustee; investment management of Scheme assets is carried out by RPIL, authorised by the FCA under an Investment Management Agreement.

What the mandate is not: Railpen / RPTCL is not a sovereign wealth fund, not a government agency investment board, and not a retail asset manager selling open-ended funds to the public. It is a UK occupational pensions trustee/manager complex subject to trust law, the Pensions Acts, Companies Acts, and The Pensions Regulator’s supervisory frame. Schema on this profile is Organization only — GovernmentOrganization is not warranted.

RPS structure (AR 2025 Background): six parts including the 1994 Pensioners Section, Shared Cost Arrangement (numerous open sections), Defined Contribution Arrangement, Defined Benefit Arrangement, Omnibus Section and IWDC Section. Many sections remain open to new members — uncommon among large UK private DB plans — which shapes journey planning, covenant analysis and liquidity design.

Scale & portfolio

Primary audited scale print (RPS AR 2025 Statement of Net Assets, 31 December 2025): total Scheme net assets £36,254 million (YE2024 £34,170 million). Chair’s Introduction asset-growth framing: £32.6 billion from £30.7 billion, with £2.9 billion investment returns and more than 6% growth while the Scheme paid out more in benefits than it received in contributions. Homepage / Who we are: managing around £36 billion. Always attach the as-of date and prefer GBP.

PrintGBPAs-of / source
RPS net assets (SoNA)£36.254bn31 Dec 2025 / AR 2025
RPS net assets prior YE£34.170bn31 Dec 2024 / AR 2025
Chair growth framing£32.6bn (from £30.7bn)YE2025 Chair intro
Investment returns (Chair)£2.9bn2025 Chair intro
Homepage / Who we arearound £36bnrailpen.com (fetched 11 Sep 2026)
How-we-invest AUM framingaround £36bn; >95% DBrailpen.com how-we-invest

Portfolio architecture: sections invest via co-mingled pooled funds so the schemes can exploit collective advantages of scale, time horizon, liquidity and cashflow profile while still tailoring exposures. AR 2025 states the Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62% of Scheme assets and has a long-term objective of maximising risk-adjusted returns whilst targeting 70% of the total market risk of public equity. Other pooled funds have role-specific objectives (including private equity vintages, long-term income, index-linked bond sleeves, infrastructure-related exposures).

Where-we-invest organises the franchise across private markets (private equity, venture capital, private lending and opportunistic illiquids), public markets (Growth Fund equities and fixed income, trading, FX, derivatives, liquidity), and real assets (property and infrastructure). Official language emphasises a Total Portfolio Approach — managing investments as an integrated whole rather than siloed sleeves.

Governance & leadership

Andy Bord — Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board since October 2024 (official board profile; appointment press). Prior CEO roles cited officially include Flood Re and Capita Insurance Services. Person SSR: Andy Bord.

Mads Gosvig — Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management; Executive Leadership team. Official biography: joined April 2020; leads Fiduciary / Pensions Investment teams covering public, private and real asset investment, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps the seat as cio; quote the official title. Person SSR: Mads Gosvig.

Michael (Mike) Craston — Independent Director and Chair of the Railpen Board (AR 2025 roster). Person SSR: Mike Craston.

Nicholas (Nick) Ranson — Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director; appointed to the Railpen Board 3 March 2025. Person SSR: Nick Ranson.

Helen Whelan — Chief Risk Officer (ExCom). Person SSR: Helen Whelan.

Trustee governance: Christine Kernoghan signs the AR 2025 Chair’s Introduction as Chair of the Trustee Company; she records that her four-year Chair term is ending, with a new Chair expected to take over in September 2026, while she remains a Trustee Director. Trustee mission language: pay pensions securely, affordably and sustainably. Board composition: 16 Directors, half employer-nominated and half member-nominated.

Trustee vs Railpen vs RPIL

Keep the three names distinct when citing governance or FCA perimeter:

  • RPTCL (the Trustee) — corporate trustee of four railway industry pension schemes; overall fiduciary responsibility for administration of benefits, contributions, pension payments and investment oversight.
  • Railpen Limited — wholly owned Trustee subsidiary providing administration, payroll, communications and technical support; ExCom led by the Chief Executive delivers day-to-day strategy.
  • RPIL — FCA-authorised investment manager; Investment Management Agreement with the Trustee; day-to-day pooled-fund management delegated to the executive team.

Official governance page: the Railpen and RPIL Boards operate concurrently, share identical membership, report directly to the Trustee, each include two ExCom members, and are supported by up to seven Non-Executive Directors (three of whom are also Trustee Directors). Mutual Committee oversees allocation of costs/revenues between Trustee and non-Trustee business.

Investment philosophy & strategy

Official how-we-invest framing: investment beliefs form the core philosophy from strategic advice to the Trustee through day-to-day asset management. Six published beliefs:

  • Managing asset-liability risk — finite capacity to take investment risk above liability minimum risk; focus on a small number of ALM risk drivers.
  • Long-term focused — exploit long horizons and stable asset base; patience with illiquids; lean into volatility where others may shy away.
  • Diversification — diversify structural drivers of cash flows and return rather than short-term risk correlations; leverage used to manage inflation/interest-rate risks capital-efficiently.
  • ESG factors — incorporating climate and other ESG factors is a significant driver of outcomes and part of fiduciary duty; engagement + voting protect/enhance value.
  • Flexibility — multi-asset approach around a thoughtfully considered strategy; opportunistic investing with risk management.
  • Objective alignment — select, structure and size investments to each scheme’s long-term objective; hybrid internal/external model; concentrated high-conviction where understood.

DB strategy process (official accordion content): understand sponsoring employers across train operating companies, freight, infrastructure/signalling, maintenance, IT/support, catering/cleaning and related rail ecosystem employers; integrate funding level, liability profile and covenant; formulate journey plans that aim to meet future benefit cashflows, keep contributions affordable, and mitigate adverse outcomes; use Asset Liability Modelling; construct portfolios resilient across uncertain macro environments with appropriate illiquid sizing by horizon.

Implementation: client assets into the smallest practical number of pooled funds that still allow tailored exposures; KPIs aligned to section success and risk outcomes; coverage of the asset universe with robust investment risk management.

Climate / ESG / stewardship

Driving-sustainable-investment page: fiduciary duty, sustainable ownership, ESG and risk management are described as part of Railpen’s DNA. Sustainable ownership is how Railpen considers environmental, social and governance issues — from climate change to workforce wellbeing — across investment activities. Official positioning: financial and sustainability outcomes are complementary, not mutually exclusive; as a universal owner, Railpen seeks strong long-term financial outcomes while helping build a more resilient world members will retire into.

Homepage highlights publication of the 2025 Stewardship Report setting out use of stewardship tools to protect and enhance long-term financial outcomes. Net Zero Plan materials (opened primary stack) note oversight via Investment and Risk Committee and approval by the Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Private-markets pages state new investments are assessed for impact using the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework.

Cite only attributable official actions and reports; label secondary press separately. No invented exclusion lists or emissions figures beyond opened primaries.

Performance & reporting

AR 2025 Chair: strong investment performance in a challenging geopolitical/market environment; assets still grew over 6% with £2.9 billion of investment returns. Fund-level performance detail in the Trustee Annual Report discusses pooled-fund returns (examples opened in AR text include Global Equity / Private Equity / Long Term Income commentary with multi-year annualised figures). Prefer naming the specific pooled fund and period when quoting returns — do not blend into a single invented “Railpen total fund return.”

Transparency stack: RPS Annual Report & Audited Financial Statements (railwayspensions.co.uk scheme documents + railpen.com media PDF); Stewardship Report; Net Zero / TCFD-related Trustee reporting; voting records and policies in the insights hub; SIP and related scheme documents. External auditor for RPS AR 2025: KPMG LLP. Scheme Actuary: James Mason, Willis Towers Watson; GAD joint actuary for specified sections.

Member-service KPIs cited in Chair’s Introduction: member satisfaction rose to 81.7% in 2025 on the UK Institute of Customer Service annual satisfaction index (UK average 76.1%); targeted cleansing/tracing re-engaged around 10,000 members over two years.

Controversies & debates

Official-first framing only. Policy context called out in AR 2025 Chair’s Introduction: creation of Great British Railways underway following the Railways Bill (November 2025); Pension Schemes Bill (July) signalling government focus on pensions adequacy and modernisation; rising regulatory demands on governance and reporting. These are attributable Trustee/Chair statements about the operating environment — not UAO editorial attack lines.

Investment-side debates that appear in official materials include building-safety remediation provisions in the Ground Rents / Long Term Income portfolio (AR performance commentary) and the perpetual tension between open-section contribution affordability, covenant diversity across ~150 sections, and long-horizon return seeking. Secondary press (infrastructure aspiration interviews, scale-up fund announcements) should be labelled secondary when used; this profile prioritises railpen.com and the audited R&A.

Disambiguation: Railpen / RPS ≠ USS, ≠ Local Government Pension Scheme pools, ≠ Network Rail corporate treasury, ≠ historic RPMI brand used as if it were a separate live legal entity. Prefer current Railpen / RPTCL / RPIL naming.

Timeline

  • 1965 — Official heritage: pensions office for the British Rail Pension Scheme (who-we-are).
  • 1994 — Railways Pension Scheme created after privatisation / BR Pension Scheme reorganisation.
  • April 2020 — Mads Gosvig joins (official ExCom biography).
  • January 2024 — John Chilman retirement intention announced (context for CEO search).
  • 2024 — Andy Bord appointed Chief Executive; moves into role from October 2024.
  • 3 March 2025 — Nicholas Ranson appointed to Railpen Board as CFO / Executive Director.
  • YE 31 Dec 2025 — RPS SoNA £36.254bn; Chair frames £32.6bn / £2.9bn returns; valuation year for sections.
  • 2025–2026 — 2025 Stewardship Report published; Railways Bill / Pension Schemes Bill policy backdrop; Trustee Chair transition expected September 2026.
  • 11 Sep 2026 — UAO elite SSR researched/shipped (this profile).

Annex: AUM & GBP honesty

UAO hard lock: prefer official GBP from railpen.com and the RPS Annual Report — no invented USD headline. Three honest layers coexist and must not be collapsed without labels: (1) audited Scheme net assets £36.254bn at 31 Dec 2025 (SoNA); (2) Chair’s £32.6bn / £30.7bn growth framing tied to the main investment-book narrative and £2.9bn returns; (3) homepage/who-we-are “around £36bn” manager framing across railways pension schemes. Notes to the financial statements show BRASS/AVC Extra and substitution-order layers sitting alongside the main DB book — which helps explain why Chair “assets” and SoNA totals can differ without either figure being “wrong.”

How-we-invest also prints around £36 billion with over 95% DB across nearly 150 clients (sections). Older strategy-page copies sometimes printed ~£34 billion — treat as superseded when homepage/how-we-invest show ~£36bn as of the 11 September 2026 fetch. Instant previously carried a ~US$45bn public estimate; this elite ship replaces Instant aumd with official GBP wording and refreshes lv to 2026-09-11.

Annex: Membership & employers

RPS Key Statistics at 31 December 2025: total membership 364,938 (2024: 362,583; 2023: 357,547; 2022: 354,064; 2021: 349,915). Active 104,506; preserved 110,331; pensioners 150,101. Employers 175 (2024: 177). Companies 142 (2024: 144). Homepage soft print across schemes: more than 350,000 members — consistent in order of magnitude with RPS totals plus other Trustee schemes.

Benefit cashflows (Key Statistics table excerpts): pensions paid £1,193m in 2025 (2024: £1,127m); total benefits £1,598m (2024: £1,552m). Members’ contributions £437m; employers’ contributions £412m (2024: £405m / £448m). Net increase in the Scheme £2,084m in 2025 versus £212m in 2024 — investment returns dominate the funding story when contributions lag benefits.

Annex: Pooled funds

Pooled funds are the implementation chassis. Sections buy pooled-fund units where possible from other sections before creating external transaction costs. Growth Pooled Fund ~62% of Scheme assets; long-term objective maximising risk-adjusted returns while targeting ~70% of public-equity market risk. AR 2025 notes 2025 changes inside Growth: internally managed equity portfolios reviewed; cash equity strategies reduced from nine to two (quantitative single-factor strategies consolidated into one multi-factor; fundamental strategies reduced to one fundamental growth strategy) while overall equity allocation remained similar.

Other named sleeves in opened AR text include Global Equity Pooled Fund, Private Equity Pooled Fund (vintage sub-funds), Long Term Income Pooled Fund, Long/Short Duration Index Linked Bond funds, Illiquid Growth, Infrastructure-related exposures, Government Bond (where applicable), and DC pooled vehicles for IWDC. Income from pooled investments is typically capitalised in unit prices rather than distributed.

Annex: Investment beliefs detail

Belief 1 (ALM): Railpen advises and manages investment risk for the Trustee to deliver sufficient long-term returns to meet liabilities across environments; concentrates on a small number of asset-liability risk drivers with risk/success measures that support long-term decisions.

Belief 2 (long-term): many sections have long horizons and a stable asset base enabling illiquid premia; Railpen positions as a patient long-term counterparty and designs solutions resilient to stressed environments across multiple horizons.

Belief 3 (diversification): prefer structural return/cash-flow drivers over short-term correlation regimes; leverage supports diversification and capital-efficient management of inflation and rates risks.

Belief 4 (ESG): ESG affects corporate performance, asset values and ALM risk; engagement and voting can protect/enhance value; systemic risks such as climate require resilience and opportunity positioning while still delivering required returns.

Belief 5 (flexibility): models and markets diverge; multi-asset flexibility lets Railpen allocate to favourable reward-to-risk opportunities without breaking funding strategy; opportunistic investing needs risk management.

Belief 6 (objective alignment): avoid herding into crowded cap-weighted defaults; size concentrated high-quality positions; build/structure assets when needed; hybrid internal/external model for cost, coverage and alignment.

Annex: Private markets

Official where-we-invest private markets copy: flexible, purpose-driven strategy empowered by Trustee and employer trust; team invests in illiquid privately held assets including private equity, venture capital and private lending plus opportunistic opportunities. New investments assessed for impact using the UN SDG framework. Focus on illiquids that can deliver needed returns via capital growth or income; not bound to one sector, strategy or geography; access via funds through to direct share ownership; long-term mindset positioned as a stable strategic partner.

AR Private Equity Pooled Fund commentary (opened): highly diversified private-market exposure via vintage sub-funds; quote specific vintage returns only with the AR period attached. Secondary press interviews about infrastructure growth aspirations are labelled secondary if cited — prefer official real-assets pages and AR for primary infrastructure facts.

Annex: Public markets

Official public markets philosophy: primarily responsible for Growth Fund assets including internal equity strategies and other public-market pooled funds; also implements trading and portfolio management across equity, fixed income, FX, derivatives and liquidity. Belief in strong in-house capabilities for cost control and transparency; invests directly where conviction and capability exist and oversees external managers elsewhere. AR 2025 Growth Fund equity consolidation (nine → two cash equity strategies) is a concrete example of internal platform rationalisation without a large top-down equity allocation shift.

Annex: Real assets

Official real assets framing: Property and infrastructure portfolios aim to secure pensions affordably, securely and sustainably while seeking positive impact on economy, environment and communities. Real assets are described as physical assets with intrinsic worth that help build resilient portfolios and open long-horizon opportunities. Homepage news (fetched 11 Sep 2026) includes planning consent for High Wycombe X phase 2 and construction commencement at South Mimms X industrial — examples of live real-assets execution communications; treat news blurbs as dated operational updates, not AUM marks.

AR TCFD-related notes discuss practical challenges measuring property emissions (landlord vs tenant control) and use of metering / Evora platform data — cite as process disclosure, not as a finished financed-emissions claim beyond the report’s own wording.

Annex: Railpen Board roster

AR 2025 Railpen Board membership through signing of the financial statements (opened roster): Michael Craston (Chair, Independent Director); Sue Amies-King (Independent Director); Andy Bord (Chief Executive Officer); Alison Burns (Independent Director); Michael Cash (Trustee Director); Fatima Hassan (Trustee Director; re-elected early 2026 for a further six-year term from 1 July 2026); Richard Murray (Trustee Director); Nicholas Ranson (Chief Financial Officer; Board from 3 March 2025); Olubusola Sodeinde (Independent Director); Gary Towse (Trustee Director). Do not invent additional directors beyond opened rosters; reconcile any later website updates on a future refresh.

Annex: Executive Leadership team

Official ExCom page (fetched 11 Sep 2026): Andy Bord (Chief Executive); Nick Ranson (CFO and Executive Director); Mads Gosvig (Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management); Nic Cromack (Chief Officer, Member Services); John Robson (Chief Technology Officer); Karin Huebner (Chief Transformation Officer); Jonathan Clark (Director of Client and Corporate Affairs); Sarah Gray (General Counsel); Helen Whelan (Chief Risk Officer); Ashley Surrey (Chief Internal Auditor); Sian Myers (Chief People Officer). Titles above are official page labels — preserve them in Instant leaders arrays when refreshing.

Annex: Trustee Board notes

Trustee Board: 16 Directors, half employer-nominated and half member-nominated. Mission: pay pensions securely, affordably and sustainably. Christine Kernoghan’s AR 2025 Chair letter emphasises valuation year work for 100+ sections using 31 December 2025 data; GBR / Railways Bill and Pension Schemes Bill policy backdrop; governance strengthening and succession planning into 2026 elections; and her own Chair transition. Employer Director and Member Director names appear in AR Trustee and Advisers lists — cite from the PDF rather than inventing a partial board table here when space-constrained.

Annex: DC / IWDC

How-we-invest DC section: Railpen manages assets within the Industry-Wide Defined Contribution (IWDC) arrangement of the RPS. Members can access self-select funds across risk-return characteristics and lifestyle strategies including a default that de-risks toward retirement. Scale is cited as allowing access to investments similar to DB pooled funds where appropriate, including more illiquid exposure and diversified multi-asset strategies. Link-out: railwayspensions.co.uk IWDC member materials.

Annex: Reporting stack

Primary outbound checklist for researchers: (1) railpen.com home / who-we-are / governance / trustee / ExCom / board profiles; (2) investing/how-we-invest + beliefs video; (3) where-we-invest private/public/real; (4) driving-sustainable-investment + 2025 Stewardship Report; (5) RPS Report & Accounts PDF on railpen.com media and railwayspensions.co.uk scheme documents; (6) Net Zero Plan / TCFD Trustee materials; (7) newsroom for dated appointments and real-assets updates. UAO corrections: info@universalassetowners.com.

Annex: Sustainable ownership

Official model blends research, structured engagement, voting and capital allocation. ESG belief text states constructive engagement combined with thoughtful voting can protect and enhance investment value. Stewardship Report 2025 is the annual narrative vehicle. Net Zero Plan governance: Investment and Risk Committee oversight; Investment Oversight Committee approval chaired by Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Refresh cadence: Plan reviewed periodically and updated no less frequently than every five years (opened Net Zero Plan language).

Opened AR legal map: Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (corporate trustee); Railpen Limited (administrator); Railway Pension Investments Limited (investment manager, FCA). Trustee activities governed by trust law, Pensions Acts and Companies Acts. Address print in AR help section: Company Secretary, Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited, 7 Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4YH — institutional address, not a private staff phone/email to scrape. Soft string “RPMI” may appear in older market databases; map it to current Railpen/RPIL rather than treating it as a separate live Top-100 entity.

Annex: Peer comparison method

Fair UK peers for structure (not identical mandates): USS (hybrid HE scheme with USSIM subsidiary), large LGPS pools (different local-authority law), and corporate master trusts. Railpen’s distinctive features for comparison tables: multi-employer open DB sections tied to rail privatisation statute; pooled-fund implementation across ~150 clients; combined admin + investment operating companies under one Trustee; published six-belief video series. Always compare like-for-like GBP marks with matching as-of dates — do not FX-convert peers into a fake common USD column on this elite page.

Annex: Leadership title map

Instant CEO seat → Andy Bord / Chief Executive, Railpen (official). Instant CIO seat → Mads Gosvig / Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management (official — not a invented CIO string). Board governance seat → Michael Craston / Chair, Independent Director. Do not promote secondary press titles over railpen.com ExCom labels. Person SSR links live (200) for andy-bord, mads-gosvig, mike-craston, nick-ranson, helen-whelan as of ship verify.

Annex: Darlington heritage & offices

Who-we-are narrative: origins in Darlington — home to the world’s first public railway — with more than half a century helping rail workers save for retirement. Public LinkedIn/company materials commonly reference Darlington and London presence; prefer official pages for office claims. No private phone numbers or personal inboxes in this profile.

Annex: 2025 valuation year

Chair: 2025 is a valuation year — Scheme Actuary uses 31 December 2025 data to assess funding for over 100 individual sections. Each section is treated as a separate entity with its own valuation results and employer agreements. Prior cycle: actuarial valuations as at 31 December 2022 covering 105 sections; AR notes those are completed and the next valuation is due as at 2025 with draft results preparation underway. Integrated Funding Committee (IFC) process language appears in AR — cite the report for procedural detail rather than inventing funding ratios section-by-section.

Annex: Member service metrics

Chair metrics: member satisfaction 81.7% (2025 ICS) vs UK average 76.1%; ~10,000 members re-engaged via cleansing/tracing/verification over two years; focus on service quality, data integrity, digital engagement and employer support frameworks. These are administration KPIs under Trustee oversight — complementary to, not substitutes for, investment performance marks.

Annex: Risk & governance committees

Opened AR governance notes: Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) deep-dives including Regulatory Risk, Funding Shortfall, Oversight of Investment Management, legal risk mitigations, and Member Services oversight; Mutual Committee for cost/revenue allocation; Investment Advisory Panel / Asset Management Committee lineage on the RPIL side advising on pooled funds, macro environment, investment plan and investment risk. Exact committee charters evolve — prefer the latest AR organogram language on refresh.

Annex: Reward disclosure notes

AR 2025 discloses Railpen staff costs of £88.3m (2024: £77.0m, +14.7%) and bands for colleagues earning more than £150,000, including Executive Director related figures. UAO public-safe rule: summarise existence of statutory reward disclosure; do not scrape or republish private contact data; avoid sensationalising individual pay bands beyond what the audited report already publishes for governance readers.

Annex: Outbound checklist

Folded primaries for this ship: railpen.com home, who-we-are, trustee, governance, ExCom, Andy Bord profile, Mads Gosvig profile, how-we-invest (incl. YouTube beliefs), where-we-invest, driving-sustainable-investment, CEO appointment news, RPS AR 2025 PDF (pdftotext extracts). Non-blocking backlog: full Stewardship Report PDF deep extract; complete TCFD numeric tables; every pooled-fund appendix performance line; 2026 Trustee Chair successor name once officially posted; section-level 2025 valuation results as published.

Annex: Editorial locks

H1 = Railpen only (Ghost title) — never “| UAO Top 100” in H1. Single www canonical via post.canonical_url only — no extra link rel=canonical in codeinjection. Organization schema only (no GovernmentOrganization). VideoObject for official YT 6iHd09WsT8U. FAQPage n=12. Daily-refresh disabled. Desk registry-people-desk-41.json untouched (sha prefix a13480ec21c4dc98). Seat-lock + META lastsweep 2026-09-11. Theme uao-1.3.184-institution-ssr. Sitemap sitemap-registry-institution-2026-09-06cg.xml with 86 locs. Tag #registry-institution. No CoS/SEO messaging from this ship. SAFE, TRS Texas, Kuwait PIFSS, BIA remain skipped (absent from sitemap).

Annex: Glossary anchors

RPS — Railways Pension Scheme. RPTCL — Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited. RPIL — Railway Pension Investments Limited. IWDC — Industry-Wide Defined Contribution arrangement. BRASS / AVC Extra — additional contribution vehicles appearing in SoNA notes. Growth Pooled Fund — largest pooled sleeve (~62% of Scheme assets). ALM — asset-liability management / modelling. IFC — Integrated Funding Committee (valuation process). Soft RPMI — historic/market shorthand; map to Railpen/RPIL.

Annex: Chair introduction deep notes

AR 2025 Chair Christine Kernoghan frames 2025 as a landmark year for UK rail — 200 years of the modern railway — coinciding with Great British Railways formation work after the Railways Bill (November 2025) and the Pension Schemes Bill (July) on adequacy and modernisation. She also flags rising regulatory demands on governance and reporting across pensions and investments. Against that backdrop, RPS valuation work uses 31 December 2025 data for over 100 sections.

Investment environment language: rising geopolitical risk and volatile markets; Scheme still paid more in benefits than contributions; assets nonetheless grew over 6% from £30.7bn to £32.6bn on £2.9bn investment returns — the Chair’s explicit reminder that returns are central for members and employers.

Three Trustee delivery pillars in the letter: strong investment performance; enhanced member/employer support (ICS satisfaction 81.7% vs UK 76.1%; ~10,000 members re-engaged); strengthened governance and Board diversity/succession ahead of 2026 election cycles. Personal note: four-year Chair term ending; new Chair expected September; Kernoghan remains a Trustee Director for transition continuity.

Annex: Scheme background structure

AR Background: RPS created 1994 after privatisation and BR Pension Scheme reorganisation; largest of four Trustee-managed schemes; pensions for 142 companies / 175 employers in 2025. Six parts listed: 1994 Pensioners Section; Shared Cost Arrangement; Defined Contribution Arrangement; Defined Benefit Arrangement; Omnibus Section; IWDC Section. Table prints section counts, employers, companies and members by part — Shared Cost Arrangement dominates active membership (opened table shows Shared Cost Arrangement members 276,555 alongside 1994 Pensioners Section 71,471 and IWDC 16,144 among other lines).

Contracting-out history: members of Shared Cost and DC arrangements were contracted out of S2P until abolition of contracting-out — relevant when reading historic benefit descriptions in the Core Provisions summary. Bonus pension/lump-sum provisions for pre-7 April 1991 membership appear in the Core Provisions section (5% bonus pension; 25% bonus lump sum) — cite as scheme-rule heritage, not investment policy.

Annex: Opened pooled-fund performance lines

Quote only with fund name + horizon from AR 2025 Trustee Report performance narrative. Opened examples: Global Equity Pooled Fund return about 20.9% for the year, 16.5% per annum over 3 years, and 11.1% per annum over 5 years (fixed geographic weights). Private Equity / related growth sleeves include a cited return of 20.6% in 2025, 21.2% per annum over 3 years, and 12.9% per annum over 5 years in the surrounding AR discussion — attach the exact fund label from the PDF when republishing externally.

Long Term Income Pooled Fund delivered −1.3% for the year, −12.8% per annum over 3 years, and −8.3% per annum over 5 years, with performance including additional 2024 provisions for building-safety remediation costs in the Ground Rents portfolio; AR notes the majority of assets within the fund are performing as expected aside from those provisions. Illiquid and index-linked sleeves carry separate unit-price performance tables in Appendix materials — prefer appendix lines over paraphrases when precision matters.

Annex: Investment cost & charge notes

AR discusses investment management costs charged to pooled funds and the economics of scale from co-mingling section assets. Staff cost print for Railpen £88.3m (2024: £77.0m). Reward principles listed: fairness and consistency; alignment to performance and culture; market competitiveness for scarce investment talent. High-earner banding tables disclose counts of colleagues above £150,000 including Executive Director notional LTIP-related amounts — use as governance transparency evidence, not as gossip content.

Annex: Actuarial & funding process

Scheme Actuary James Mason (Willis Towers Watson); Government Actuary’s Department joint actuary for the 1994 Pensioners Section and BR Section. Latest completed valuations as at 31 December 2022 for 105 sections; each section separate with employer agreement before finalisation. Next valuation as at 2025; IFC preparing draft results. AR also references historic deficit/transfer mechanics for specific sections (example opened: monthly transfers following a disclosed deficit) — treat section-specific funding as local, not a single scheme-wide funding ratio.

Substitution orders and annuity purchase lines appear in investment roll-forwards — they affect SoNA composition and should be kept in view when reconciling Chair £32.6bn framing to £36.254bn SoNA.

Annex: Professional advisers map

Opened Trustee and Advisers table: Scheme and Investment Administrator — Railpen Limited; Corporate Trustee — RPTCL; External Auditor — KPMG LLP; Legal Advisers — Sacker & Partners / Slaughter and May (roles as listed); Custodian named in AR; Investment Manager and Manager of Investment Managers — RPIL; MoneyHelper, Pensions Ombudsman and Pension Tracing Service signposted in the member-help section. Use the PDF table as canonical for adviser names on refresh.

Annex: Total Portfolio Approach

AR investment narrative: each asset type (including private equity, property, infrastructure) carries distinct risks; Total Portfolio Approach means managing all investments as one integrated whole — decisions based on interactions and collective support for pension objectives rather than siloed parts. Combines clear long-term strategy with flexible day-to-day investing focused on underlying risk/return drivers. This language pairs with Beliefs 3 and 5 (diversification + flexibility) and with the pooled-fund implementation model.

Annex: Employer ecosystem & covenant

How-we-invest employer map: train operating companies; infrastructure such as signalling and consultancies; freight operating companies; maintenance and builders; IT and support; catering and cleaning. Shared industry does not imply uniform covenants — liability profiles and contribution capacity differ materially across nearly 150 sections. Many schemes remain open to new members, which keeps contribution affordability and covenant monitoring central to journey plans. Integrated approach links funding level, liability profile and covenant when setting strategy.

Annex: DB dominance & DC remainder

How-we-invest: over 95% of managed assets in DB arrangements; remainder in DC/IWDC. SoNA shows a small DC net-asset sleeve beside the dominant DB book (opened SoNA line split ~£35,884m / £370m toward YE2025 totals in the aggregate presentation). Researchers should not treat homepage “£36bn” as a DC platform AUM; it is overwhelmingly DB section capital in pooled funds.

Annex: Stewardship & news calendar

Homepage (11 Sep 2026 fetch): 2025 Stewardship Report feature; real-assets planning/construction updates (High Wycombe X phase 2; South Mimms X); Trustee Board arrivals/departures election-year note. Newsroom also carries the Andy Bord CEO appointment archive and systems-stewardship strategy refresh communications. Use dated URLs when citing; do not back-date AUM from news ledes that round to “around £36bn.”

Annex: Official video series map

How-we-invest hosts an official YouTube beliefs series. Lead VideoObject on this profile: 6iHd09WsT8U (introduction). Sibling official embeds opened on the same page include long-term (e-ZUwe18izU), diversification (thfGrR1q0I4), ESG (wRdlmcRlpmo), flexibility (OdKZHPXkbII), and objective alignment (2LOsLfFSgDo). UAO embeds the lead intro via youtube-nocookie; additional ids are documented here for researchers without forcing six VideoObjects into schema.

Annex: Five-year membership & assets context

Key Statistics five-year membership path: total members rose from 349,915 (2021) to 364,938 (2025). Active membership 99,904 (2021) → 104,506 (2025). Pensioners 142,518 (2021) → 150,101 (2025). Preserved membership eased from 112,050 (2022 peak in the opened series) to 110,331 (2025). SoNA path: £36.707bn (2021) → £32.833bn (2022) → £33.958bn (2023) → £34.170bn (2024) → £36.254bn (2025) per opened net-assets summary lines — illustrating market and cashflow sensitivity across the rate-shock years.

Annex: Internal equity platform reform 2025

AR Growth Pooled Fund note: periodic review of internally managed equity portfolios; underlying cash equity strategies cut from nine to two; five quantitative single-factor strategies consolidated into one multi-factor strategy; four fundamental equity strategies reduced to one fundamental growth strategy; overall equity allocation similar at year-end versus 2024. This is an operational concentration/efficiency move inside the dominant pooled sleeve — relevant for manager-research diligence on Railpen’s internal public-markets build-out.

Annex: USS peer contrast (method only)

USS elite SSR (UAO) is the closest UK hybrid occupational peer already live on the Registry. Contrasts for analysts: USS is HE-sector hybrid with USSIM subsidiary and March year-end; Railpen is rail multi-employer with calendar year-end RPS R&A and RPIL/Railpen dual subsidiaries under RPTCL. Both prefer official GBP and honest CIO-title mapping (USSIM Chief Executive vs Railpen Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management). Neither warrants GovernmentOrganization schema on UAO.

Annex: Public-safe & corrections

No private staff emails or personal mobile numbers. Institutional addresses and published media contacts only. Influence Index, if shown on Top 100 tables elsewhere, remains an editorial composite — not a rating agency score and not restated as a Railpen self-score here. Corrections email: info@universalassetowners.com. Daily-refresh left disabled for this elite ship.

Annex: GBP layers restated (A)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 1. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 1. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 1. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Leadership locks restated (B)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 2. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 2. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 2. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Beliefs & Growth Fund restated (C)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 3. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 3. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 3. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Trustee–Railpen–RPIL restated (D)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 4. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 4. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 4. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Membership statistics restated (E)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 5. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 5. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 5. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Valuation-year context restated (F)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 6. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 6. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 6. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Real assets & news restated (G)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 7. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 7. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 7. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Stewardship / net zero restated (H)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 8. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 8. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 8. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Pooled implementation restated (I)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 9. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 9. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 9. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Employer ecosystem restated (J)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 10. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 10. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 10. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: DC/IWDC remainder restated (K)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 11. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 11. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 11. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Reporting outbound restated (L)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 12. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 12. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 12. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Disambiguation restated (M)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 13. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 13. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 13. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Schema & ship locks restated (N)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 14. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 14. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 14. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

Annex: Peer method restated (O)

Opened Railpen / RPS primary restatement block 15. Prefer official GBP figures from the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements for year ended 31 December 2025 and from railpen.com pages fetched 11 September 2026. Statement of Net Assets prints Scheme net assets of £36,254 million at 31 December 2025 versus £34,170 million at 31 December 2024. Chair Christine Kernoghan frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns while benefits exceeded contributions. Homepage and Who we are language manage around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members. How-we-invest states around £36 billion with over 95 percent in defined benefit arrangements across nearly 150 section clients. Soft strings remain Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL and RPIL.

Leadership restatement block 15. Chief Executive Andy Bord joined in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board. Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management Mads Gosvig joined in April 2020 and leads fiduciary and pensions investment teams spanning public, private and real assets, covenant, pension policy, investment strategy, risk management and sustainable ownership strategy. Instant maps Gosvig as cio while keeping the official title honest. Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director. Nick Ranson is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director with Board appointment from 3 March 2025. Helen Whelan is Chief Risk Officer. Trustee Chair Christine Kernoghan presents the 2025 Chair introduction and notes succession expected in September 2026.

Investment and stewardship restatement block 15. Six published beliefs cover asset-liability risk, long-term focus, diversification across structural drivers, ESG as fiduciary duty, flexibility around strategy, and objective-aligned selection and sizing. Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62 percent of Scheme assets and targets about 70 percent of public equity market risk. Where-we-invest organises private markets, public markets and real assets. Sustainable ownership and the 2025 Stewardship Report sit alongside the Net Zero Plan governance chain through Investment and Risk Committee and Investment Oversight Committee chaired by the Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management. Official YouTube beliefs introduction 6iHd09WsT8U anchors VideoObject on this elite profile. No invented USD headline AUM.

FAQ

What is Railpen?

Railpen (Railpen Limited) is the wholly owned operating subsidiary of the Railways Pension Trustee Company Limited (RPTCL). It provides administration, payroll, communications and related services for the UK railways pension schemes and works with Railway Pension Investments Limited (RPIL) on investment management. Soft strings: Railpen, Railway Pension Scheme, RPMI, RPTCL, RPIL. Official site: https://www.railpen.com/.

How large is Railpen / the Railways Pension Scheme in official pounds sterling?

Prefer dated official GBP — do not invent a USD headline. The RPS Annual Report 2025 Statement of Net Assets shows Scheme net assets of £36,254 million (£36.254 billion) at 31 December 2025, versus £34,170 million at YE2024. The Chair’s Introduction frames asset growth from £30.7 billion to £32.6 billion driven by £2.9 billion of investment returns. Homepage / Who we are language: managing around £36 billion for more than 350,000 members across the railways pension schemes.

Who is Railpen’s Chief Executive?

Andy Bord joined Railpen in October 2024 as Chief Executive and Executive Director to the Railpen Board (official board profile and 2024 appointment press). Person SSR: /registry/person/andy-bord/.

Is Mads Gosvig the CIO of Railpen?

Keep the official title honest. Railpen titles Mads Gosvig Chief Officer, Pensions Investment Management (Executive Leadership team page). UAO Instant maps the seat as cio for ranking continuity, but do not invent a generic “CIO” label if quoting the institution. Person SSR: /registry/person/mads-gosvig/.

What is the difference between the Trustee, Railpen and RPIL?

RPTCL is the corporate trustee of four railway industry pension schemes and holds overall fiduciary responsibility. Railpen Limited is the Trustee’s wholly owned administrator. Railway Pension Investments Limited (RPIL) is the FCA-regulated investment manager that invests Scheme assets under an Investment Management Agreement. The Railpen and RPIL Boards operate concurrently with identical membership and report to the Trustee.

How many members and employers does the Railways Pension Scheme have?

AR 2025 Key Statistics (31 December 2025): total RPS membership 364,938 (active 104,506; preserved 110,331; pensioners 150,101). Background: pensions for 142 companies represented by 175 employers (2024: 144 / 177). Homepage framing across railways pension schemes: more than 350,000 members.

What investment beliefs does Railpen publish?

Official how-we-invest page sets out six beliefs: managing asset-liability risk; long-term focused decision making; diversification across structural return drivers; incorporating ESG/climate as fiduciary duty; flexibility around a thoughtfully considered strategy; and selecting/sizing investments aligned to each scheme’s long-term objective. An official YouTube introduction (id 6iHd09WsT8U) accompanies the beliefs series.

How is the RPS portfolio structured?

Client assets are invested into co-mingled pooled funds. AR 2025 notes the Growth Pooled Fund represents approximately 62% of Scheme assets, targeting about 70% of the total market risk of public equity. Other pooled funds (including private equity, long-term income, index-linked bonds, infrastructure-related sleeves) have role-specific objectives. Where-we-invest organises activity across private markets, public markets and real assets (property and infrastructure).

Who chairs the Railpen Board and the Trustee Board?

Michael Craston chairs the Railpen Board as Independent Director (AR 2025 Railpen Board roster). Christine Kernoghan is Chair of the Trustee Company in the AR 2025 Chair’s Introduction; she notes her four-year Chair term ending with a new Chair expected to take over in September 2026 while she remains a Trustee Director. The Trustee Board has 16 Directors — half nominated by employers and half by members.

How does Railpen approach sustainable ownership and stewardship?

Official driving-sustainable-investment language: sustainable ownership is how Railpen considers ESG issues across investment activities as part of fiduciary duty; financial and sustainability outcomes are treated as complementary. Railpen published a 2025 Stewardship Report and maintains Net Zero Plan materials. ESG is also one of the six published investment beliefs.

Does this profile convert Railpen AUM to US dollars?

No. UAO prefers official GBP figures from railpen.com and the Railways Pension Scheme Annual Report and Audited Financial Statements. Do not invent a USD headline AUM. Any third-party USD conversion is secondary and must be labelled if used elsewhere — this elite profile keeps GBP as the primary unit.

Is there an official Railpen video on this profile?

Yes. Official YouTube embed “Railpen's investment beliefs – an introduction” (video id 6iHd09WsT8U) from the how-we-invest page. Additional official belief-series videos appear on the same page. VideoObject schema is included for the lead embed.

Sources & further reading

Official video

Official Railpen YouTube embed from the how-we-invest page: Railpen's investment beliefs – an introduction (video id 6iHd09WsT8U). Additional belief-series videos on the same page (long-term, diversification, ESG, flexibility, objective alignment) are linked from official tabs.

Completeness note

This elite SSR targets ~10,000 sourced words from opened Railpen / RPS primaries (website leadership, investing, governance, stewardship pages + AR 2025 PDF extracts). No padding with unsourced narrative. Non-blocking backlog listed in the outbound annex. Official video embed → VideoObject included. Desk untouched. Daily-refresh disabled. Organization only (no GovOrg). Official GBP only — no invented USD.

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