BA Pensions today (16th December 2022) announced that NAPS is now fully funded. This is very welcome and reassuring news for NAPS members who, for some time, have seen their scheme in significant deficit.
The 2021 valuation report is soon to be released which will show that:
– The Scheme’s assets had increased to £19.52 billion (2018: £16.93 billion).
– The Scheme’s liabilities, or Technical Provisions (the value of the pension benefits the Scheme expects to pay out over time) had increased to £21.17 billion (2018: £19.33 billion).
– The Scheme’s funding deficit on 31 March 2021 was £1.65 billion (2018: £2.4 billion).
– The funding level had therefore improved since the last valuation, on a prudent, Technical Provisions basis, to 92% (2018: 88%).
NAPS funding position improves post-valuation
BA Pension’s news release says
“In the 18 months since the 31 March 2021 valuation date, a combination of market changes and favourable investment returns have significantly improved the Scheme’s financial position. Consequently, the Scheme is currently fully funded, meaning that it no longer has a deficit when measured using the same Technical Provisions basis used for the 2021 valuation. ”
BA provides ongoing protections for NAPS
The news release goes on to say
“Despite the fact that the Scheme is currently fully funded against its Technical Provisions, BA has agreed to provide a package of contingent contributions worth up to £1.65 billion if NAPS returns to being in deficit. As a result of our negotiations, BA has also agreed to provide a comprehensive package of protections, including property assets as security, which will remain in place until the end of September 2028.”
ABAP would like to offer our congratulations and thanks to the NAPS Trustee Board for this very significant achievement in securing the pensions of NAPS members.
The full news release is available here:
https://www.mybapension.com/naps/news/read/9/naps-31-march-2021-funding