Pensions Weekly Update – 25 September 2024

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Here is our weekly summary of key legal and regulatory developments relevant to occupational pension schemes that you might have missed, with links for further information.

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published a statement reminding trustees of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes that actuarial valuations with dates on or after 22 September 2024 should now refer to TPR’s new DB funding code. The new code sets out TPR’s guidance and expectations on how to comply with the funding and investment strategy requirements introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2021. While the new code will not be in force until late November, TPR says that it reflects its approach to the new DB funding regime. TPR has also published the final-form statement of strategy template documents, and says that it has reduced the data ask of schemes in certain situations, such as for well-funded and small schemes. TPR is launching a new digital submission platform for valuation documents in the spring of 2025. Valuations dated on or after 22 September 2024 should be submitted once TPR’s new online digital service goes live, even if this results in late submission.
The Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP) has confirmed that the government’s GOV.UK One Login will be used for dashboards identity checking. According to PDP, members of the public who have already registered for the government’s service will not have to prove their identity again when registering to use a pensions dashboard. This is seen as a secure solution, but PDP’s announcement confirms that the GOV.UK One Login does not verify current addresses, which trustees and pension providers may have been expecting as part of the identity check.
HMRC has published Newsletter 162, in which it notes that further regulations will be published in relation to the abolition of the lifetime allowance, to correct previous errors, as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The newsletter also contains a reminder for pension trustees to migrate their pension scheme over to the new managing pension schemes service if they have not done so already. As mentioned in previous updates, this is something that pension trustees will have to do themselves – it is not something that their administrators will automatically do on their behalf.
The Impact Investing Institute has published its second report on the UK impact investing market. The report notes that the market has grown to £76.8 billion in assets under management as at the end of 2023, which is a £19.3 billion increase representing a 10.1% compound annual growth rate since the beginning of 2021. The report highlights the impact investing that the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is making, but says that other UK based pension funds are still seen as slow to increase allocations to impact investing and are seen as lagging behind other institutional investors and their international counterparts.
The LGPS Scheme Advisory Board has published a statement on fiduciary duties of administering authorities and the flexibilities they have in responding to lobbying. It flags some of the considerations that administering authorities should not take into account when making investment decisions, and notes that the distinction between nonfinancial factors and financial factors is becoming increasingly blurred. The board says that it is seeking an opinion from counsel as to whether there is a need to update a 2014 advice paper on fiduciary duties for administering authorities.
The Office for National Statistics has published a financial survey of funded occupational pension schemes in the UK from October 2023 to March 2024. The survey includes membership details, income, expenditure, assets and liabilities – it also includes information on expenses, as a percentage of assets, for the first time.