Concerned about your DB pension?

PPF Chief Executive reminds pension savers of the PPF’s role following yesterday’s action from the Bank of England 

Oliver Morley, Chief Executive of the Pension Protection Fund, said: 

“Recent market stresses will understandably have caused concern amongst pension savers. It’s important that members of defined benefit schemes understand that we are ultimately here to protect them if we are needed to step in.
 
“I want to reassure members that we remain confident in our funding position – and their benefits remain fully secure. We are carefully managing our investments and closely monitoring the impact of market movements on the schemes we protect.”
 
We protect the future of millions of people throughout the UK who belong to defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. 
 
The PPF is a public corporation, set up by the Pensions Act 2004. Since then, we’ve taken on over 1,000 schemes and look after more than 295k members. We currently protect close to 10 million members belonging to more than 5,200 DB pension schemes. 

It’s important to remember: 

• We step in when a sponsoring employer with a DB scheme becomes insolvent. 

• We only take on schemes which can’t afford to pay their members benefits at least at PPF compensation levels.  

• Our compensation levels provide a significant level of protection for members – in very broad terms, we pay 100 per cent to pensioners, and 90 per cent to those who hadn’t reached their retirement age at the point of insolvency.  

• Members who transfer to the PPF are better off as a result of our protection than if we didn’t exist. 

• Current PPF members, and DB scheme members, can be reassured that we are financially secure. 

• Our financial position has strengthened significantly in recent years, driven principally by strong investment performance. 

• We have a healthy reserve (£11.7bn as at 31 March 2022) to protect us against future risks.