Britain’s largest pension fund is at risk of wiping out its largest single investment if Thames Water goes under.
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) serves 500,000 members and has £82bn of investments.
At the end of 2021, it increased its stake in the troubled Thames Water, hailing the company’s performance under then-boss Sarah Bentley.
USS acquired an additional 8.77% from Wren House, the infrastructure investment arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, in December 2021.
Wren House sold out after just four and a half years after acquiring its stake.
The sale of its stake to USS took the UK pension fund’s shareholding in Thames Water to 19.7%, making it the company’s second-largest investor.