What this consultation is about
A Funding Strategy Statement (FSS) is a written framework within which Derbyshire Pension Fund's Actuary carries out triennial valuations to set contribution rates for individual scheme employers.
Derbyshire Pension Fund is part of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The LGPS 2013 regulations require the administering authority to prepare and maintain a FSS.
The proposed updated FSS has been prepared by the pension fund in collaboration with the fund’s actuary, Hymans Robertson LLP. This consultation provides an opportunity for the pension fund’s employers and other stakeholders to comment on and contribute to the latest version of the statement.
One of the pension fund’s core objectives is to ensure it has sufficient assets available to meet members’ benefit payments. These payments are guaranteed by scheme regulations and will be met by contributions resulting from the funding strategy or asset returns and income resulting from the fund’s investment strategy.
The employers within the pension fund pay the balance of the cost of delivering pension benefits to members once employee contributions and investment returns have been taken into consideration. The proposed FSS focuses on:
- how employer liabilities are measured
- the pace at which the liabilities are funded
- how employers, or pools of employers, pay for their own liabilities
The statement sets out how Derbyshire County Council, as the administering authority of the pension fund, has balanced the conflicting aims of:
- affordability of employer contributions
- transparency of processes
- stability of employers’ contributions
- prudence in the funding basis
The proposed FSS for 2020, and the fund’s current Investment Strategy Statement which is referenced in the FSS, are attached to this page.
Responses to this consultation are welcome and will be considered in the final version of the revised FSS. It is anticipated that the statement will be considered for formal approval by Derbyshire County Council’s Pension and Investments Committee at its meeting on 4 March 2020.