This abridged version of our report and accounts gives you the main facts at a glance
Fund report 2024
Fund account
|
|
2024 | 2023 |
|
|
£000 | £000 |
Membership trends
| Admissions to the fund |
2023/24 |
2022/23 |
2021/22 |
2020/21 |
2019/20 |
|
Employees joining with no previous service |
27,473 |
25,185 |
21,007 |
20,306 |
21,153 |
|
Employees with transfers from other local government funds |
37 |
65 |
20 |
23 |
42 |
|
Employees with transfers from other pension schemes |
201 |
248 |
248 |
249 |
415 |
| Total |
27,711 |
25,498 |
21,275 |
20,578 |
21,610 |
| Withdrawals from the fund |
2023/24 |
2022/23 |
2021/22 |
2020/21 |
2019/20 |
|
Members awarded immediate retirement benefits |
3,390 |
2,982 |
3,298 |
3,151 |
2,801 |
|
Benefits awarded on death in service |
125 |
113 |
106 |
117 |
94 |
|
Members leaving with entitlement to deferred benefits, transfer of pension rights or a refund |
10,770 |
6,676 |
6,465 |
5,602 |
7,560 |
|
Total |
14,285 |
9,771 |
9,869 |
8,870 |
10,455 |
Performance
In 2023/24 our investments made a positive return of 8.6%, against a benchmark return of 8.5%. This performance is 0.1% above our benchmark. Our medium- to long-term performance is as follows.
- 3 years 6.5% (15th percentile)
- 5 years 6.8% (38th percentile)
- 10 years 7.8% (29th percentile)
- 30 years 7.8% (12th percentile)
The fund is focused on long term investment performance and strategy. We have a very different asset strategy to that of the average LGPS fund, the key difference being our relatively high commitment to equities and the commensurate underweighting of other assets. During recent years this would have had a positive impact on the fund’s performance relative to its peers because equities returns were considerably ahead of bonds.
2023/24 WYPF cost per member
Our 2023/24 annual cost per member for pension administration is £18.01. Investment management is £23.74 and oversight and governance £2.84, giving a total management cost per member of £44.59. These figures compare favourably with the average cost for authorities in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) – SF3 data collection results for the previous year is shown in the table below.
|
Cost per member |
West Yorkshire Pension Fund |
Position |
West Yorkshire Pension Fund |
LGPS lowest |
LGPS highest |
LGPS average |
|
|
2023/24 |
2022/23 |
2022/23 |
2022/23 |
2022/23 |
2022/23 |
|
Admin cost per member |
£18.01 |
4th |
£16.55 |
£7.63 |
£142.11 |
£27.85 |
|
Investment cost per member |
£23.74 |
2nd |
£22.97 |
£4.49 |
£1,276.17 |
£265.89 |
|
Oversight and governance |
£2.84 |
2nd |
£3.17 |
£0.77 |
£93.37 |
£15.22 |
|
Total cost per member |
£44.59 |
1st |
£42.68 |
|
|
|
Responsible investment
The primary objective of WYPF is to meet current and future member benefits at a stable and affordable cost. Alongside this aim, WYPF is committed to being a careful custodian of the funds it manages as a responsible investor, embracing two core ideas:
- We commit to be appropriately informed about the investments we make, engage with the managers of the companies we invest in, and use our voting rights consistently and appropriately.
- We recognise that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors can profoundly impact an individual company’s long-term sustainability. The ESG profile of individual companies reflects a significant number of characteristics ranging from the nature of its supply chains, the composition of its board, management’s attitude toward unionisation and the carbon intensity of its business. Our approach to ESG includes our efforts to help avert climate change. WYPF has long recognised our climate related responsibilities and continues to urge investee companies to present swift and plausible plans to slash carbon emissions. The fund has a commitment to become Net Zero by 2050.
Further information on our approach to responsible investment, stewardship and climate change is on our website https://www.wypf.org.uk/investments/
