Latest news & announcements

Avon Pension Fund featured in the IIGCC inaugural Paris Aligned Asset Owners progress report

Paris Aligned Asset Owners - Progress Report 2022

To coincide with COP27’s Finance Day, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) published their inaugural Paris Aligned Asset Owners (PAAO) progress report. The report, which includes 29 case studies, shows how asset owners are developing a range of strategies and approaches to fulfil the criteria set by the PAAO 10-point commitment (which is set out in the report).

As an IIGCC member, and a signatory to the Net Zero Investor Framework, the Avon Pension Fund was invited to provide a short piece for the report showcasing how it has put its climate policy into action. The case study highlights how the Fund has integrated climate into its liquidity and risk management strategies, which are unique among Local Government Pension Schemes.

The Fund’s case study appears on page 24 of the progress report.

The Brunel Pension Partnership are also featured in the report (page 17) for their work in the development of Paris-aligned indices with FTSE Russell.

PDF iconParis Aligned Asset Owners - Progress Report 2022

Update for members

How to contact the pension fund

We continue to experience a higher volume of enquiries than usual and are prioritising essential requests.

Please help us by wherever possible getting in touch by email. If you have an enquiry, please email: avonpensionfund@bathnes.gov.uk 

You can also use the ‘Contact us’ facility on our website, to send your enquiry with your contact details by visiting the following webpage:

www.avonpensionfund.org.uk/contact-us  

Every effort will be made to deal with your enquiry as soon as possible.

You can also access your pension account using our secure self-service website my pension online. Where you can view your pension details, access your annual benefit statement, perform estimates and update your expression of wish nominations and contact details.

If you haven’t registered for my pension online already, it’s a simple process. Just visit the registration webpage https://myaccount.avonpensionfund.org.uk/ with your National Insurance number, click on ‘Register’ and follow the instructions.

SecureShare portal

We have also introduced a secure service by which you can receive and return your documents digitally. Full details on how to use the SecureShare portal software is available here:

PDF iconSecureShare Guide for Scheme Members

If you are not able to communicate digitally you can send documents to the Avon Pension Fund at the usual address.

You can still contact us by telephone if your enquiry is urgent, please call 01225 395100. Our telephone service is operating weekdays, between 9am and 4pm.

We appreciate your understanding and support.

How safe is my pension?

I’ve heard about the fall in the UK government bond market and wondered if my pension is safe?

Yes, your local government pension is safe.

You may have seen many articles in the media about the fall in UK government bond prices following the “mini-budget” announcement on Friday 23rd September and wondered just how secure your pension from the Avon Pension Fund is.

The Avon Pension Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The LGPS is a statutory defined benefit scheme which means that your pension will continue to be worked out using a set formula and it is guaranteed by Government. LGPS is funded by pension contributions from members and scheme employers.

The Avon Pension Fund reduces risk by spreading its investments across a wide number of different types of assets all over the world, including shares or equities, property, government bonds and company bonds. This means that if the value of one type of asset should fall (such as some bonds in the current market), then the other investments should protect the Fund. The Fund also has measures in place to source cash at short notice to support its investment strategy in the event of significant market volatility.

The Fund has experienced economic downturns in the past and a long-term view must be taken of investment returns.

Despite the uncertainty you may hear from the media concerning the UK government bond market, you should not be unduly concerned about your local government pension from Avon Pension Fund.

It is as secure a pension as it’s possible to have.

What about my AVCs?

Events such as the mini -budget or in the recent past, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, can unsettle bond and equity markets and in the short term they can affect the value of money held in your AVC funds. Your AVCs sit outside the Avon Pension Fund itself and the extent to which they will be affected will depend on the range of assets held within the funds that you have chosen to invest in.

How long the value of your AVC will be affected for is uncertain. In the past markets have experienced sharp declines and recovered, however, the extent and speed of the recovery in current market conditions is difficult to gauge and dependent on a number of factors (such as the Bank of England’s recent intervention).  The Fund is monitoring the situation closely and will update this statement as the situation evolves.

As our AVCs are part of our pension pot we can take a long-term view and the funds you are invested in are designed to weather the ups and downs of the markets over time.

Notice of Office Relocation

The refurbishment of Keynsham Civic Centre has now been completed and Avon Pension Fund offices are returning to Civic Centre, Market Walk, Keynsham, BS31 1FS effective from Monday 3 October 2022.

Our postal address and telephone number remain the same and members can continue to get in touch with the Fund using these details and the usual online methods, however there may be a delay in sending, receiving and processing requests whilst we transition to our new office location.

We apologise for any inconvenience that you may encounter during this time and every effort will be made to deal with your enquiry as soon as possible.

Issue 3 of ESG is now available

ESG Issue 3 cover

We’re pleased to launch issue 3 of our digital ‘zine’, ESG.

To mark are involvement in the 2022 Climate and Biodiversity Festival in the Bath and North East Somerset area we’re pleased to launch issue 3 of our digital ‘zine’, ESG.

For our third issue, we’ve shifted the focus ever so slightly to the ‘Social’ part of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Responsible Investing is about more than just looking after the planet and the environment. It’s about looking after people, too, and ensuring they are treated fairly and have equal opportunities across the board. This issue has examples of what we are doing in this respect.

Avon Pension Fund is in the process of moving to a different AVC provider

The Avon Pension Fund is in the process of moving to a new AVC provider.

Aviva, our current AVC provider, will no longer accept new employer applications and we are therefore in the process of appointing a new AVC provider.

From 1 October 2022, we will temporarily suspend new applications to any of the existing Aviva AVC schemes. As soon as we have appointed a new provider, new AVC applications will commence again with the new provider. This is likely to be from December. Deductions in respect of existing AVC contracts with Aviva will continue during this interim period.

Full details of the new arrangements will be announced shortly, including what this will mean for existing members of the current schemes.

We've signed the 2022 annual ‘Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis’

Logo for the Global Investor Agenda Initiative

In April, Avon Pension Fund signed the 2022 annual ‘Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis’, alongside over 500 other investors managing nearly $39 trillion in AUM. This statement was made public on the IIGCC website yesterday, ahead of COP27 in Egypt in November.

The Pensions Regulator’s McCloud factsheet

The Pensions Regulator (TPO) has published a factsheet on McCloud. The factsheet sets out TPO’s views on what affected members and schemes can do now and TPO’s present approach to dealing with McCloud complaints.

TPO’s general starting position is that it would not investigate McCloud complaints. This is because it acknowledges that the Government is taking steps to address the discrimination with retrospective effect. TPO will, however, carefully look at the facts of each case before deciding whether to investigate.

The factsheet sets out examples where TPO may decide to investigate a McCloud complaint now. The factsheet can be viewed using the following link:

https://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/publication/pensions-ombudsmans-tpo-approach-mccloud-and-sargeant-age-discrimination-complaints

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