The Scottish Public Pensions Agency has initiated a project to benchmark its member data against quality criteria set out by the Pensions Regulator, to find more cost-effective ways of improving data accuracy.
The SPPA, which will report its findings in early 2014, is using the framework set out in the regulator’s good record-keeping guidance for common and conditional data.
Central data administration details that are being set might be held on records might be well out of date
Specific reports are being written to establish common data outcomes and any other conditional data items identified,” said a spokesperson for the Scottish government.
“SPPA’s pensions administration casework system includes a suite of checks on specific data fields which is informing the conditional data outcomes,” the spokesperson added.
The regulator recommends common data – information that needs to be held for all members of schemes – be 100 per cent accurate if created after June 2010 and at least 95 per cent if created before that date.
However the SPPA has not set down such a date boundary for assessing and comparing the quality of that data, according to the spokesperson.
The regulator has produced tables showing items that could be regarded as conditional data, such as information dependent on factors including the type of scheme, design and a member’s status.
“Benchmarking common data [for defined contribution schemes] is quite straightforward to do [because it includes] items like names, addresses, postcodes [and] national insurance numbers – very straightforward items,” said Geraldine Brassett, client relationship manager at Aon Hewitt.
However benchmarking conditional data can be more difficult.
“The stuff that is less well catered for is the conditional data, particularly for longer-standing defined benefit schemes,” said Fergus Clarke, head of administration at the Pensions Administration Standards Association.
Conditional data held by these schemes could be out of date, especially for members that have moved on, he added.
Trustees need to ensure data is kept up to date and accurate, for example in checking the details of deferred members, which may have changed by the time they reach retirement.
Clarke added that he has seen trustees question the cost of checking data and the value of getting accurate information.
However increasing data accuracy can benefit both scheme and member, for example in pricing buy-ins and buyouts.
