09.04.2025
The eighth PPF Diversity Pay Gap report, published in its 20th anniversary year, reports a number of highlights, including:
• Surpassed target of 45 per cent for female representation in senior management in August 2024, whilst median gender pay gap remains stable.
• Ethnic minority employee population increased to 31.5 per cent, with highest proportion of ethnic minority employees in the top pay quartile since 2020.
• Addressing the pay and bonus gap for those reporting a disability or long-term health condition remains a focus.
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has today released its eighth Diversity Pay Gap report, restating its commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace and continuing to make significant improvements to the diversity of its senior management.
The organisation, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has made improvements in both the ethnicity pay and bonus gaps, and the proportion of ethnic minority employees in the highest paid quartile is at the highest since it began reporting on the ethnicity pay gap in 2020 (28.9 per cent compared to 22.3 per cent in 2023). The median and mean ethnicity pay gaps have also fallen in the last year, to 10.0 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively.
Additionally, the PPF has now surpassed its target for female representation in senior management, with a 48 per cent female leadership team, including having a female CEO and Chair concurrently for the first time in the organisation’s history. Disclosure of disabilities and long-term health conditions (LTHC) remains stable at more than 80 per cent.
Katherine Easter, Chief Operating Officer, said: “Fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace is vitally important to us - it creates a better place to work and ultimately makes us better at delivering our service for our members. Monitoring our pay gaps, and setting targets, has helped us make positive progress over time. While there is further to go, its particularly pleasing that we’ve made more progress in the last year on reducing our ethnicity pay and bonus gaps and further increased female representation in our senior management.”
The PPF has gone beyond statutory requirements to report on its ethnicity and disability and long-term health condition pay gaps but recognises there is still further progress to be made. To address its ethnicity bonus gap, the PPF supports projects led by Investment 20/20 and the Diversity Project to champion a more inclusive culture in the savings and investment industry, as well as the 10,000 Black Interns Programme, run by the 10,000 Interns Foundation. These initiatives will help drive long-term change in the PPF’s ethnicity pay and bonus gaps, and introduce a career that may have previously been a less obvious choice.
Currently, half of the PPF’s Board members and two thirds of our Executive Committee, including Michelle Ostermann who was appointed CEO last year, are women. Whilst the organisation’s median gender pay and bonus gaps have both fallen since its first report in 2017, there is still progress to be made across the organisation and the financial services sector as a whole. Continuing to attract, secure and retain more women for senior roles and driving wider societal and industry change remains a key focus in the new strategy.
The PPF has voluntarily reported on the pay and bonus gaps amongst those with a disability or long-term health conditions for the last three years. Whilst the median and mean disability pay gaps have improved year on year, the mean disability bonus gap has remained stable, and the median disability bonus gap has increased over the year. The PPF continues its work in this area via its external partnerships such as disability equality charity Scope, its employee-led Diverse Ability Action and Awareness Group (DAAAG) and by ensuring it continues to be recognised by the Disability Confident Leader Scheme following an external testing process.
Michelle Ostermann, Chief Executive Officer, added: “As well as celebrating the improvements we have made over the last 12 months, it’s essential we reflect on the targets we’ve not yet met and consider what we can do to accelerate progression. As we reflect on the role we have played in society over the last two decades, and set out our vision for the future, we continue to be committed to attracting and nurturing diverse talent who will be pivotal in shaping our future organisation and look forward to publishing our new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments in the coming months.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
The PPF’s Diversity Pay Gap uses data taken in March 2024. Key results on each pay gap show:
Ethnicity Pay Gap
A reduction in the median ethnicity pay gap from 15.9 per cent in 2023 to 10.0 per cent, and a fall from 14.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent in the difference in the mean hourly rate of pay.
The proportion of ethnic minority employees in the highest paid quartile is at the highest since it began reporting on the ethnicity pay gap in 2020 at 28.9 per cent compared to 22.3 per cent in 2023.
The proportion of ethnic minority employees receiving bonus pay has remained stable at 75 per compared to a decrease from 85 per cent to 82 per cent for white employees.
During the year April 2022 to March 2023, 8.7 per cent of ethnic minority employees and 7.9 per cent of white employees were promoted.
Gender Pay Gap
The median rate of pay gap has remained stable at 17.8 per cent compared to 17.5per cent in 2023, whilst the difference in the mean hourly rate of play has widened during the year up from 15.8 per cent in 2023, to 19.0 per cent in 2024.
There has been a slight increase in the median bonus pay gap from 19.3 per cent in 2023 to 21.9 per cent in 2024.
Disability & Long-term Health Conditions (LTHC) Pay Gap
This is the third year we’re reporting on the disability and long-term health condition (LTHC) pay gap.
This year 82 per cent of PPF employees disclosed whether or not they have a disability or LTHC with 25 per cent identifying as having a disability or LTHC. To compare these figures with the population of the local area, 15.8 per cent of Croydon residents reported having a disability or long-term illness in the last census (2021).
In 2023, the difference in the median hourly rate of pay was -2.4 per cent, and the difference in the mean hourly rate of pay is 8.2 per cent. This year the difference in the median hourly rate of pay was -3.1 per cent, and the difference in the mean hourly rate of pay is 5.2 per cent.
The median bonus pay increased from 4 3.3 per cent in 2023 to 10.8 per cent and the difference in the mean bonus pay remained stable at 41.4 per cent (41.6 per cent in 2023).
For further press information contact:
PPF Press Office
020 8406 2107
