The London Pension Funds Authority certainly bucks the trend when it comes to how we might perceive public funds – rather staid.
“We like to think of ourselves as at the forefront of the technological revolution which is currently taking place,” says the authority’s Peter Harris. It is this commitment to new technology that has seen the rapid change in the administration and structure of the fund. “We tend to develop systems by starting with the ultimate user, that is the administrator. However, we are also very excited about the new website which provides information for members.”
This is a first in the local government area, but with over 250 employers participating in the scheme the next step is to introduce access for them too. The website allows “what-if” calculations to be made, allowing members an insight into what future benefits may be.
The development of the administration technology has also had the knock-on effect of raising the number of contributing members. “Eight or nine years ago they accounted for less than one quarter of the total fund membership, now they account for over one third,” says Harris. “This is mainly as a result of the Department of the Environment sending employers to us with a recommendation, such as the Probation Service.”
Agency work and joint ventures for, and with, London boroughs have also increased the workload for the authority. “Of our customer base of 180,000 that agency and partnership work accounts for 50% of our activity,” Harris confirms.
Another significant change has been the increased involvement of the membership through the membership panel. “Representatives on the panel comment on our performance, and we are now using the panel to test the standards and level of our service to members. They test our literature and through bi-annual meetings comment on topical issues affecting pensions. As with the website the next step is to develop an employers’ panel.”
Peter Scales, LPFA’s chief executive, adds, “I am delighted that the LPFA has been chosen as one of the UK leaders on fund structure and administration. This is not only a commendation for LPFA operations but also the Local Government Pension Scheme.
“LPFA enters regularly for national awards as a valuable test of our performance gauged against our peers in both private and public sectors. The extension of this discipline into Europe is a welcome opportunity to learn from the best practice of our European peers.”

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