Actuarial statement meaning

Broadstone reported that data from the Pension Protection Fund’s monthly index showed the figure had risen from a £442.3bn surplus at the end of February. For the 5,050 UK defined benefit schemes assessed, the index indicated total assets of £1,434.3bn at March’s end, while total liabilities stood at £978.8bn across the cohort. Over the same period, the funding ratio edged up from 146.1% to 146.5%, a modest uplift. Sarah Elwine, Broadstone’s actuarial director, called the 'positive funding environment' welcome news for defined benefit pension schemes...

In this issue: Funding, surplus and investment Pensions taxation The Pensions Regulator Trustees, governance and administration Daily and weekly news alerts New content Dates for your diary Trackers Funding, surplus and investment Withdrawn and re-laid: draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024 The draft Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024 were first laid on 29 January 2024, then withdrawn and re-laid on 26 February 2024. The revisions in the re-laid draft (the 2024 Regulations) are intended to ensure sponsoring employers, trustees and scheme managers all have equivalent time to prepare for the added requirements linked to the new funding and investment strategy and the statement of strategy. These updates are set out in regulation 20 of the revised draft, which would amend the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Funding) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/3377. Reg 20(3)(d) of the 2024 Regulations inserts a new para...

In this issue: The Pensions Regulator Brexit Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers The Pensions Regulator Although the new DB funding law covers actuarial valuations with effective dates on or after 22 September 2024, it will not take effect until November. On 23 September 2024, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) confirmed that trustees of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes with actuarial valuation dates falling on or after 22 September 2024 should look to TPR’s new DB funding code, laid before parliament on 29 July 2024. This holds true even though the code is not anticipated to be in force until late November. The timetable dovetails with the Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/462 (which set out the reforms introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2021), in force from 6 April 2024 and likewise applying to valuations with effective dates on or after 22 September 2024. The new DB funding...

THIS BEGINNERS’ GUIDE APPLIES TO DEFINED BENEFIT OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES This Beginner’s Guide explores the legal framework in relation to the funding of registered defined benefit occupational pension schemes (DB schemes), including: the statutory scheme-specific funding regime and how it operates the funding and investment strategy actuarial valuations scheme funding negotiations the Pensions Regulator’s approach to scheme funding, and methods of managing scheme funding deficits The statutory scheme-specific funding regime The Pensions Act 2004 (PeA 2004) brought in the current ‘scheme-specific’ funding regime for DB schemes. It took effect on 30 December 2005, superseding the earlier Minimum Funding Requirement (MFR) and transposing into UK law the scheme funding provisions of the IORP Directive 2003/41/EC on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision, which was later repealed and recast as the Archived Directive (EU) 2016/2341 (Archived IORP II). Note that neither the 2003 IORP Directive, nor Archived IORP II form part of UK domestic law,...

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES The framework set out in sections 67–67I of the Pensions Act 1995 (PA 1995), often called the ‘subsisting rights provisions’ or simply the ‘section 67 regime’, places statutory limits on what changes can be made to occupational pension schemes. Broadly, section 67 is intended to stop adverse changes to members’ accrued (past service) benefits unless members agree. From 6 April 2006 (A‑day), section 262 of the Pensions Act 2004 revised the wording of the original section 67 (the ‘old s 67’). Following A‑day, the regime applies to ‘regulated modifications’ (see below), whereas the old s 67 covered any change that ‘would or might affect any entitlement, accrued right […] of any member acquired before’ the modification took effect. The old s 67 regime governed amendments made between 6 April 1997 and 5 April 2006. Prior to 6 April 1997, no section 67 regime existed and any protection against adverse alterations to scheme benefits (if any) derived solely from the...

STOP PRESS : The Pensions Research Accountants Group (PRAG) has released the Statement of Recommended Practice, Financial Reports of Pension Schemes 2026 (SORP) following broad pre-consultations with stakeholder groups and a thorough review of feedback to the formal consultation, which closed in Q4 2025. SORP 2026 applies to accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. The SORP was last overhauled in 2018, and the latest amendments ensure alignment with Financial Reporting Standard 102 and current pensions legislation and regulations. Consultation respondents largely endorsed the proposed changes in the three principal areas—fair value determination, investment risk disclosures and sole investor pooled arrangements—considering them appropriate and proportionate. This Practice Note is being updated to reflect these changes. THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO UK OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES This Practice Note on pension scheme annual reports and accounts is based on: the latest Financial Reports of Pension Schemes: A Statement of Recommended Practice (2018) (SORP 2018) issued in March 2018 by PRAG...