Lincolnshire Pension Fund report 2024/25

Introduction by Jo Kempton, Head of Lincolnshire Pension Fund

At the end of 2024/25, the value of the Fund was £3.6 billion – an increase of £156.7 million from the previous year, a return of 3.9% on the Fund’s investments.

Our Pensions Committee worked hard over the year, and details of the meeting agendas and attendance can be found in the main report. The Pension Board continued to provide oversight of the governance of the Fund and of the administration function, and concluded that the Fund remained well run, as set out in the Annual Report of the Local Pension Board.  Our shared service administration provider, West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF), maintained its usual high level of service to scheme members and employers in the Fund, and paid over £146.2 million in pension benefits over the year. WYPF were also very busy getting the Fund ready for the Pensions Dashboard, working with employers to ensure that the data we hold relating to our scheme members is of a high standard.

The Government's consultation on the LGPS entitled Fit for the Future has kept us very busy, with the requirements for asset pooling increasing and changes of roles for the Pensions Committee and for Border to Coast, the Fund’s asset pool.  We’ve worked closely with the other ten Partner Funds within Border to Coast to ensure that we can meet the Government’s requirements within their very tight timescales.  Border to Coast has continued to grow as the Partner Funds have transferred assets, with £30.2bn under management across ten collective investment vehicles and a further £20.2bn of Private Markets and Real Estate commitments made across eight propositions, as at 31 March 2025.  LPF has transferred 55.7% of the Lincolnshire Pension Fund's assets across to the management of Border to Coast, with net savings to date of £7.64m.

Stewardship and responsible investment are an integral part of the Fund's investment strategy and decision making, and the Fund works closely with Border to Coast to ensure that it invests in a sustainable way.  Through Border to Coast, and in its membership with the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), the Fund engages with companies on key environmental, social, and governance issues, such as carbon reduction, executive pay, human rights and fair accounting. We were again successful in meeting the requirements of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in submitting our Stewardship Code Statement for 2023/24, which can be found on our website at Lincolnshire pension fund Stewardship Code 2023/24.

The Fund is always keen to hear its members' views on stewardship and responsible investment, or on any other matters about the Pension Fund, so please contact us at LGPSpensions@lincolnshire,.gov.uk with any comments or questions you may have.  Please note – this email address is not for any pension benefit queries – please use the normal contact email of pensions@wypf.org.uk.     

This summary gives a flavour of our full Annual Report and Accounts.

Please do take a look and let me have any feedback.

Draft fund account*

*Accounts awaiting auditor’s opinion at the time of publishing

LGPS membership

There were 85,534 members and beneficiaries (plus 545 undecided leavers) and 268 contributing employers at 31 March 2025.  The Fund is reasonably mature, with pensioner and deferred members (those that are no longer in the Scheme but will be entitled to a pension at some point in the future) making up 67.9% of the overall membership.

Performance

The overall investment return of 3.9% was behind the Fund’s specific benchmark return of 6.1%.  Over the last ten years, the Fund’s annualised investment performance of 7.0% is slightly behind of the benchmark return of 7.3%. 

Actual investment performance against the Fund's strategic benchmark performance is set out in the table below.  The longer-term return is well ahead of the long term required return of 4.0%, set by the Fund's Actuary (as per the March 2022 Triennial valuation).   

Distribution of investments

The Fund invests across a range of asset classes and geographies, to ensure appropriate diversification of the investments.  The Pensions Committee sets a strategic asset allocation with the long-term aim of meeting the funds objectives to ensure it has enough assets to pay pensions when they fall due.    

 The table below shows the actual distribution of the assets at the 31 March 2025 compared to the long-term strategic allocation.