Actuarial valuations, pensions and data insights

12 Jul 2024 02:46 PM

Actuarial valuations are one type of support we offer to pension schemes clients. Pensions sector experts learned about GAD's key skills at a recent event.

The significance of actuarial valuations undertaken by the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has been highlighted at a pensions conference.

GAD actuary Garth Foster was one of the presenters at the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association’s (PLSA) Local Authority conference. He spoke about our support to government departments across a range of sectors including pensions, insurance, investments, data insights and actuarial valuations.

Major event

This annual conference is a major event for people who manage the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and its individual funds. It’s one of the largest defined benefit pension schemes globally.

The conference featured senior policymakers, industry figures, and insights from outside the pensions sector. Garth spoke about a range of topics including:

• the various cost cap checks, and cost management processes, that operate within the LGPS
• results of GAD’s recent published valuations of the LGPS, and the implications of these for the scheme
• how the LGPS valuations compare with the equivalent valuations of the other core public service pension schemes
• background on GAD’s upcoming ‘Section 13’ report which is set to review the actuarial valuations, carried out by other actuaries, for each of the individual LGPS local funds

Key challenges

Garth, and James Walsh, Head of Member Engagement at the PLSA, discussed key challenges faced when carrying out valuations of the public service pension schemes.

Delegates also heard about GAD’s current preparations to support its clients in an ever-changing environment.

Insights and knowledge

Garth said: “The PLSA conference was a brilliant opportunity to share experiences with other experts involved in the successful delivery of the LGPS. The conference provided insights into a range of topics, both LGPS-specific, and more general cross-cutting pensions issues.”

“It was great to talk to a really knowledgeable audience, familiar with the work of actuaries, but possibly less familiar with the work of GAD and our ‘whole-of-scheme’ level actuarial valuations.”