Performance and Compliance

Administration

Performance relating to key administration tasks declared in our Pension Administration Strategy and compliance with The Pension Regulator's General Code of Practice.

KPI percentages achieved for administration targets over last 5 years

Notification Target 24/25 23/24

22/23

21/22

20/21
Death in service 5 days 94% 87% 82% 90% 72%
Death of deferred/pensioner notification to dependent (new for 2024/25) 5 days 86%        
Deferred benefit CARE only (new for 2024/25) 60 days 99%        

Deferred benefit Final Salary (new for 2024/25)

60 days 95%        
Retirement estimate 10 days 100% 96% 95% 97% 94%
Actual retirement 10 days 81% 92% 90% 86% 76%
Deferred benefit 10 days 98% 95% 96% 92% 69%
Refund of contributions 10 days 96% 98% 98% 96% 93%
Transfer in 10 days 85% 69% 68% 60% 61%
Transfer out 10 days 79% 56% 63% 58% 33%

Data Quality & Compliance

The Pensions Regulator Data Scores 2023 2024 Change %
Common Data 98.7% 98.7% +0.8%
Scheme Specific Data 99.2% 98.9% -0.3%

 

Annual benefit Statement Compliance 2023 2024 Change %
Statements issued before 31 August Deadline 99.78% 99.92% +0.14%

 

Pension Saving Statements 2023 2024 Change %
Statements issued before 6 October Deadline 100% 100%  0%

Internal Audit

The internal audit function, for the Fund, is under contract to Aberdeenshire Council. Each year internal audit focus on a particular area or process within the Fund to evaluate control measures, provide assurance and identify areas of improvement.

In 2024/25 the internal audit focused on payroll, with the outcome and recommendations reported to the Pensions Committee. The full report can be found below:

Actuarial Valuations

The Fund is valued every 3 years. The valuation assesses whether the funds held are sufficient to meet the funding target, and to assess the contributions required to provide for the benefits.

Finance

The Fund’s total asset value sits at £6.3bn. Investment returns over the last year have been positive against a difficult market backdrop with constant changes regarding sentiment towards interest rates and inflation affecting different asset classes.

It is notable that the NESPF continues to outperform both our individual benchmark and other comparators such as CPI and average earnings over the long term.

  • £6.3bn

    Total Fund Value

  • £85.4m

    Investment Income

  • £41m

    Employee Contributions

  • £108m

    Employer Contributions

  • £257m

    Pension Benefits Paid

  • £25m

    Admin & Investment Costs

Awards

There are a number of bodies which recognise the work done within the Pensions industry with national awards to celebrate excellence within pension schemes. These awards wins and nominations reflect the Fund's achievements over the years.

  • Pensions Age Awards

    Wins

    • Pensions Administration - 2025

     Nominations

    • Pensions Administration - 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
    • DB Pension Scheme of the Year - 2025, 2024, 2021
    • Best Investment Strategy - 2025, 2024, 2023
  • LAPF Awards

    Wins

    • Scheme Administration - 2022

    Nominations 

    • LGPS Fund of the Year (Assets over £2.5bn) - 2024, 2023, 2021, 2018
    • Scheme Administration - 2025, 2024, 2023, 2021
    • Investment Innovation - 2025
  • Professional Pension

    • Wins

      • Public Sector Pension Scheme of the Year - 2017
    • Nominations

      • DB Scheme of the Year (Over £500m) - 2017
      • Best Use of IT & Technology - 2017
  • LGC Investment

    Wins

    • Quality of Service - 2016

    Nominations

    • Fund of the Year (large) - 2025, 2024
    • Outstanding Individual Contribution - 2025, 2024
    • Rising Star - 2025, 2024
    • Innovation in Administration - 2025
    • ESG Innovation - 2025

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