Lothian Pension Fund (LPF), Scotland’s second-largest Local Government Pension Scheme, with over £10.3 billion in assets under management, this week published its 2024/2025 Unaudited Annual Report. It can be viewed at www.lpf.org.uk/publications/reports.
Key highlights from the report include:
• Total assets under management by Lothian Pension Fund stood at more than £10.3bn
• LPF paid out £253m in pensions to 36,453 members, with £68m in retirement lump sums
• 6,604 new members have joined during the year
• LPFI* advised and managed around £3bn on behalf of partner funds including Fife, Falkirk, Scottish Borders Pension Fund and Northern Ireland
• Achieved a 92.1% member satisfaction rate
• Shortlisted for the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme of the Year at the 2025 Pensions Age Awards
• Retained the Pension Association Standards Award (PASA) accreditation, maintained the Customer Service Excellence award with increased scores and achieved Cyber Essentials Plus certification
• Secured investment returns of +2.4% over one year. Five- and ten-year annualised returns at +6.8% p.a.
David Vallery, LPF’s Chief Executive Officer, says about the 2024/25 report:
“Despite global economic and geopolitical turbulence, 2024/2025 has been another year of consistent delivery and meaningful progress at LPF. We’ve focused on providing excellent service, investing in cyber security, enhancing governance, and strengthening our investment team and risk frameworks.
“LPF continues to invest in our risk management processes, recognising the responsibilities we have and the many financial and operational risks we face.
“We are very proud of our 92%-member satisfaction rate and the positive feedback we received throughout the year. This recognition, alongside strong customer feedback and colleague engagement scores, demonstrates that we’re achieving our vision to deliver outstanding pension and investment services for the benefit of our members and employers. We will continue to push for investments in systems and 2025/2026 will see the release of an improved pensions portal.
David Vallery comments further:
“As ever, stewardship and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) remain central to our approach. We have retained our signatory status to the UK Stewardship Code and published our updated Climate Change Policy, reinforcing our commitment to the Paris Agreement and encouraging responsible investments and positive engagement with the companies we work with.
“We are now fully settled into our new modern office. We quickly saw the benefits of the new location, with increased collaborative working made possible by spending more time together. We are also now able to host Committee and Board meetings, training events, and seminars in-house.
“As always, I wish to express my gratitude to all my colleagues who work so tirelessly on behalf of our members and employers, and to the members of the Pensions Committee, Pension Board, and boards of LPFE and LPFI who collectively oversee the Fund and its operating entities, while offering me counsel, guidance, and encouragement.