The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is a statutory fund run by the Board of the Pension Protection Fund, a statutory corporate established under the provisions of the Pensions Act 2004, and is classified as a public financial corporation. It was established to pay compensation to members of eligible defined benefit pension schemes in the United Kingdom, when there is a qualifying insolvency event in relation to the employer and where there are insufficient assets in the pension scheme to cover Pension Protection Fund levels of compensation.
Over 125,000 people (31 March 2017) are receving compensation, and hundreds of thousands more will do so in the future.
The money needed to pay compensation, and the cost of running the PPF is generated by:
- charging a levy on eligible pension schemes;
- taking of the assets of schemes that transfer to the PPF;
- recovering money, and other assets, from the insolvent employers of the schemes we take on; and
- investing all income and assets, as part of a prudent strategy.
We have £28.7 billion in our investment portfolio (31 March 2017) which is continually growing, and is currently managed both internally and externally
Highlights as at 31 Mar 2017
- As at 31st Mar 2017, the PPF had 234,882 members, made up of 106,524 deferred and 128,358 pensioner members;
- By the end of our financial year, we were supporting 103 schemes in the assessment period, with assets of￡5.4billion and liabilities of £6.1 billion;
- By the end of March 2017, the PPF had a funding level of 121.6 per cent - an increase on the previous year, which was 116.3 per cent;
- By 31 March 2017, the propablity of success of being financially self-sufficient by 20130 remains at 93 per cent, confirming we continue on the right path.
Further details regarding the PPF's strategic objectives and investment strategy for the year under review can be found in its annual report which can be found here:
http://www.pensionprotectionfund.org.uk/DocumentLibrary/Documents/PPF_Annual_Report_2016_17.pdf