Hymans Robertson’s nationwide LGPS knowledge assessment launching soon

Hymans Robertson has opened the registration for its 2024 National Knowledge Assessment (NKA) to LGPS funds. The NKA is an opportunity for LGPS funds to compare themselves nationally. It also allows them to evidence that they’re meeting the requirements of the Pensions Regulator’s General Code of Practice through assessment and reporting on the knowledge and skills of their Committee and Board members.

This is the third time, following assessments in 2020 and 2022, that the leading pensions and financial services consultancy has run a national assessment to give LGPS funds unique training insights where they can benchmark the knowledge and skills of their Committee and Board, and identify future training needs.

Commenting on how Funds will benefit from taking the assessment, Alan Johnson, Governance Consultant, Hymans Robertson, says: “It’s so important for funds to measure the knowledge levels of their Committee and Board members, and to consistently gather this evidence. Being able to demonstrate that you are assessing the levels of knowledge and understanding is an expectation of the Regulator, highlighted in their recently launched General Code of Practice.

“The assessment will give Funds an insight into their Committee and Board’s collective knowledge levels, as well as benchmarking these scores against other participating Funds. There are eight key areas assessed which are critical for meeting the good governance standards expected of the scheme. Each member also receives their own individual scores. Some of the areas covered include: The Role of the Committee and Pension Legislation, Investment performance and Risk Management and Pensions Governance.

“This information can be used to create targeted training plans for members, based on the knowledge gaps identified. The assessment also provides detail of the engagement levels of the Committee and Board, as well as the spread of knowledge in each of these eight areas.

“Once the assessment has concluded we will produce a national report that includes analysis on the current UK-wide LGPS Committee and Board landscape compared to previous NKA results.”