Pensions - Articles - Pension Protection Fund publish their Purple Book for 2021

 The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published the latest edition of the Purple Book. The Purple Book provides comprehensive data on and analysis of the UK defined benefit (DB) pension landscape, tracking trends in DB scheme funding, demographics, asset allocation and more.

 This year’s Purple Book dataset covers 5,215 schemes – 99.9 per cent of the estimated 5,220 schemes eligible for PPF compensation as at 31 March 2021.

 While the overall net funding position improved to a surplus of £46.9 billion, just under half of schemes remained in deficit at 31 March 2021.

 The latest edition of The Purple Book also reveals that the total funding ratio increased over the year from 94.9 per cent to 102.8 per cent, primarily due to market movements.

 “2,525 of the 5,220 schemes under our protection remain underfunded and have an aggregate deficit of £129bn. Many of these schemes have individual deficits which would, if they were to claim, have a significant impact on our balance sheet,” said Lisa McCrory, our Chief Finance Officer and Chief Actuary.

 “Our funding position is very strong, as is our probability of success, and we want to reassure the 9.7 million DB pension savers under our protection that we’re in an excellent position to continue to protect them,” she added. 

 This year’s edition can be found here. Key points include:

 • Scheme funding has risen to 102.8%
 • There are currently 9.7 million DB scheme members in the UK, down from 9.9 million last year
 • The PPF’s probability of success has increased to 95%

  PPF Purple Book 2021