PPF 7800 Index meaning

A monthly Pension Protection fund (ppf) publication estimating the aggregate funding position of UK defined benefit (DB) pension schemes eligible for PPF protection. In practice, pensions lawyers, trustees and sponsors use the PPF 7800 index to gauge market-wide DB funding trends when advising on scheme funding under Part 3 of the Pensions Act 2004, corporate transactions, insolvency risk, and the PPF levy. The term is not defined in legislation, but the Index’s liabilities are modelled broadly on the section 179 (Pensions Act 2004) valuation basis used for PPF levy purposes. It does not reflect scheme-specific technical provisions, IAS 19 numbers or buy-out pricing, and creates no legal rights or obligations for any individual scheme. “7800” reflected the original approximate number of eligible schemes; the population has changed but the name remains. Results can move sharply month to month with gilt yields and asset values, illustrating funding volatility across DB schemes. Usage is consistent across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is not applicable in Ireland (which has no PPF), although Irish practitioners considers separate statistics published by the Pensions Authority for local DB scheme funding.