23.11.2023
I’m proud that we’ve achieved the goals set out in our 2019-22 Strategic Plan despite challenging circumstances. It has put us in a good position as we’ve built strong foundations to protect our members and solidify our status as a role model for best practice in the industries we operate in.
We’ve made progress across all business areas, from producing our first Responsible Investment report to being accredited as a Disability Confident Leader. We’ve seen our probability of success towards our funding target hit 95 per cent, and our member satisfaction score surpass 97 per cent. These are just some of our achievements in uncertain times.
We know that we’ll face further challenges over the next three years but we remain ambitious on behalf of our members, levy payers and the millions of defined benefit (DB) scheme members we protect. Our priorities for the next three years are designed to ensure we meet these challenges.
And by continuing to demonstrate our ICARE values from the top down and developing a culture where we collectively understand our goals and desired outcomes, we can support effective risk management.
Delivering our strategic priorities
There are four key priorities in our 2022-25 Strategic Plan: meeting new challenges with brilliant service; excellence in asset and liability management; making a difference; and transforming ways of working using enhanced technology.
Brilliant service
Following the recent Hampshire and Hughes court rulings, our priority is to ensure all our members are receiving the right compensation and are clear on what to expect both now and in the future. We’ll continue to work closely with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and implement any changes as quickly as we can.
We’ll continue to invest in and improve our services to our members and levy payers so we can sustainably deliver high levels of satisfaction, and remain as efficient as possible.
Excellence in asset and liability management
This year we’ll complete our review of our funding strategy and publish the outcome.
We’re in a robust financial position, but it’s important that we remain cautious and ensure that our approach to funding is flexible enough to allow a change of direction if the risk profile of the universe changes — or if our own funding position weakens.
Making a difference
We’ve already made great progress across a number of areas, from investing responsibly within our investment assets to delivering ambitious change in how we think about diversity & inclusion.
We’ve taken important steps to address key ESG risks facing our portfolio and we’ll continue to pursue a market leading approach in this area. As well as reducing our own environmental footprint, we’ll explore more opportunities for sustainable investment.
It’s important that our people feel respected, appreciated and valued for their differences and individuality. Although we’ve made strides to improve representation of under-represented groups, as our latest Diversity Pay Gap report highlights, there’s still work to be done.
We commit to publishing a holistic sustainability strategy, including our strategic response to climate change, responsible investment, our own operational impact on the environment and D&I.
Transforming how we work
We’ll continue to evolve our technology and digital solutions for members and levy payers through self-service and automation. This efficient way of working will allow people to focus on value-adding tasks rather than routine processing, reduce costs, and improve our overall customer satisfaction.
Our hybrid working model will play a role in the evolution of our culture; we’ve already demonstrated how adaptable we can be. As we look to the future, establishing the right culture and capability will be key to the pace of change we see.
