The collapse in manufacturing and car production in the Midlands has resulted in the region providing the largest amount of members on the Pension Protection Fund's (PPF) books, according to Aon Consulting.

The firm, which has set up a specialist PPF outfit in Birmingham, said that 20 per cent of the company schemes in the lifeboat's protection came from the Midlands area of the country and that this figure was expected to rise.

Matthew Harvey, a pensions consultant at Aon Consulting Birmingham, said: "Unfortunately Midlands firms are over represented among schemes currently in the PPF. This comes down to the large number of automotive and manufacturing firms in this area who have traditionally offered final salary pension schemes to their employees. I fear we will see the Midlands being an even larger source of schemes in the PPF in the future."

The Birmingham-based Aon team has identified three areas in which scheme trustees can prepare themselves for the process of entering the PPF assessment period.

These are: meeting deadlines and completing the mandatory tasks set out by the PPF, communicating properly with members and keeping them informed throughout the assessment period, and trustees balancing the need for completing tasks with managing their scheme assets in a cost effective way.

- Pensions Age April 2009

Share Story: