The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) paid out £1.2bn in compensation to members in 2025/26, while maintaining high member satisfaction levels, according to its annual report.

The PPF’s Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26 revealed that member satisfaction remained at 97.4 per cent, ahead of its 90 per cent target, as the lifeboat fund marked 10 years since insourcing its member services operations.

The report also showed that the PPF had 284,742 members as at 31 March 2026, including 202,383 in payment and 82,359 deferred members.

In addition, the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), which is run by the PPF on behalf of the government, had 135,746 members, including 89,805 in payment and 45,941 deferred members.

The PPF also completed 37 Fraud Compensation Fund claims during the year, including several complex cases, resulting in payments of more than £100m to support over 2,770 victims of pension fraud.

Meanwhile, the report noted that the PPF maintained its financial resilience despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, with its growth portfolio delivering a 7.1 per cent return and outperforming its five-year rolling target.

This added around £1.3bn to the PPF’s future claims and risk reserves, which stood at £15.1bn as at 31 March 2026.

Assets under management increased to £31.5bn, while current claims liabilities stood at £16.4bn.

The PPF said its liability-driven investment strategy helped keep its funding position stable as market conditions changed.

Indeed, the total value of claims on the PPF Fund from schemes entering the PPF during the year was £28.5m, down from £63.2m in 2024/25 and below the historic average.

The report also highlighted the impact of the Pension Schemes Act 2026, which includes a package of measures affecting PPF and FAS members, as well as the defined benefit (DB) schemes protected by the PPF.

The act enables the PPF to pay inflation-linked increases, capped at 2.5 per cent a year, on pre-1997 benefits where members’ former scheme rules provided for them.

The PPF said the change is expected to benefit more than 300,000 PPF and FAS members, with the organisation progressing preparatory work so eligible members can begin receiving increases from January 2027.

It has also begun contacting members directly to confirm their eligibility.

The estimated £1.4bn financial impact of the change will be applied to the PPF’s funding position in 2026/27.

The act also gave the PPF greater flexibility to reduce the levy - it confirmed that it will not charge the approximately 5,000 conventional DB schemes it protects a levy in 2025/26 or 2026/27.

In addition, the act abolished the PPF Administration Levy, which will not be charged to schemes from 2026/27.

The PPF claimed these changes would save schemes millions of pounds, while allowing it to manage risks responsibly and move towards becoming self-funding.

PPF acting chief executive officer, Richard Beaven, said: “We’ve made excellent progress in the past year delivering on our core purpose, protecting members, and on our business priorities.

“Last year we focused on protecting members’ interests, delivering high standards of service, maintaining our financial resilience, and strengthening the organisation for the future.

“As our focus now shifts to implementing the significant package of PPF and FAS changes from the Pension Schemes Act, the groundwork we’ve put in place means we’re on track to deliver.

“As we embark on an important year of delivery ahead, we will continue to work collaboratively with all our stakeholders.”

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