The Head of Pension Administration, Yvonne Murphy, presented a report that informed that MPF was a founder member of a group of LGPS Funds who had supported the expansion of CEM Benchmarking services from the investment arena into the pension administration functions.

The outcomes of the benchmarking exercise undertaken for the year ending March 2020 was summarised in the Appendix to the report. John Simmonds, Principal of CEM Benchmarking UK, attended the meeting and provided a brief presentation and responded to questions from members.

The report informed that undertaking external assessment was vital to help drive service improvement and assess value for money. The aim was to provide independent assurance on the service the Fund provided by measuring a range of functions and comparing performance to similar organisations and best practice standards; to identify areas of strength and those areas that would benefit from review and improvement.

The Chair of the Pension Board indicated that he welcomed the fact that MPF was taking part in the benchmarking service. He commented that this was a positive report and thanked Mr Simmonds for his coherent and easy to understand presentation.

Resolved – That the report be noted.