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As the worrying situation in Ukraine continues to unfold, we wanted to bring you a joint statement from the Chair of the Avon Pension Fund Committee – Councillor Paul Crossley, and the Chair of the Avon Pension Fund Investment Panel – Councillor Shaun Stephenson-McGall.

“As a leader in the field of responsible investment and where social factors, specifically human rights, form a key pillar of our responsible investment principles, we were shocked to learn of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and we are naturally concerned about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the region.

In 2018, a court ruled that pension schemes must ‘equalise’ the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) benefits for men and women. Currently, they are linked to the old state pension ages of 60 (for women) and 65 (for men).

GMPs are intended to be paid from the old state pension ages for men and women alike, (their ‘GMP age’), however they are not paid as well as a pension. This is because it is already included within the make-up of the pension. That said, the different starting ages for men and women can, in some instances, create inequality.

At Avon Pension Fund, diversity is an integral part of our Responsible Investment strategy and as such a key priority. To help address the issue and build an investment industry that embodies a more balanced representation of diverse societies, we have recently signed-up to the Asset Owner Diversity Charter.

We’d like to take a moment to inform you of some updates to our Terms & Conditions, Privacy Notice, and Data Retention Policy.

When the Government reformed public service pension schemes in 2014 and 2015 they introduced protections for older members. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that younger members of the Judges' and Firefighters' Pension schemes had been discriminated against because the protections did not also apply to them.