This one-day event was aimed at Pension Fund accountants using the accounts as the “anchor” for practically based training supplemented by exercises to reinforce the learning. We used a line-by-line approach to de-construct the accounts allowing learners to understand how the regulatory and financial reporting framework impinges on the various operations which form the Pension Fund.
The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is a heavily regulated area of activity currently subject to a lot of change both operationally through legislation and as a result of new financial reporting requirements. Even more change is likely in the future following the Hutton report and the current Public Service Pensions Bill. Over and above this there is a layer of specific governance requirements, such as the Pensions Ombudsman, The Pensions Regulator and the requirement for annual reports, not seen elsewhere within local government.
Coupled with the above is the increasingly complex world of Pension Fund operations as:
- Funds rely increasingly on third parties for much of the information required for financial reporting, raising questions about where the pension fund obtains assurance for its accounts from.
- Funds move into increasingly more complex areas of financial instruments to improve investment returns. This increases the risk of mis-reporting by pension funds.
- Reputational risk to funds and the risk of financial loss through not understanding the instruments being invested in.
Download LGPS Fund Accounting - 2013-2014 (PDF, 1.7MB)