News

Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

The Trustee’s latest “Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) report” for the ZF UK Pension Plan is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy and Beliefs Statement

An Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policy and Beliefs Statement has been prepared by the Trustee this formalises the Trustee’s ESG beliefs and its policy on how ESG factors should be integrated in investment decision-making. A copy of this Statement is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Statement of Investment Principles

The latest Statement of Investment Principles for the ZF UK Pension Plan is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Newsletter

The latest edition of the Plan Newsletter ‘Reflections’ is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

The Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) framework provides a structure for companies, asset managers, asset owners, banks and insurance companies to outline the steps they have undertaken to identify, manage and monitor climate-related risks and opportunities. The framework is designed to increase comparability but allow sufficient flexibility to communicate the specific approach adopted by each entity. From 1 October 2021, pension schemes above a certain size have been required to comply with the TCFD requirements for pension schemes. These requirements applied to the Plan from 1 October 2022. This report is therefore the first TCFD Report produced for the Plan in line with these requirements and is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Statement of Investment Principles

The latest Statement of Investment Principles for the ZF UK Pension Plan is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Statement of Investment Principles

The latest Statement of Investment Principles for the ZF UK Pension Plan is now available in the Forms and Documents area of the website.

Coronavirus update

As a result of the coronavirus, global stock market values have fallen heavily. The virus is contributing to financial anxieties for many people and, amongst other things, there has been speculation about pension plans in the media. Whilst the ZF UK Pension Plan is not immune to volatility in the financial markets, the Trustee would like to provide you with some reassurance.

The first point to note is that you are a member of a “defined benefit” pension plan, and so your benefit entitlement is not directly linked to investment performance. One of the most important jobs of the Trustee is therefore not to take unnecessary risks with the investments, but to target the returns necessary to provide long term self-sufficiency of funding, with minimal risk.

The second point to note, as you may have read in the recently issued “Reflections” newsletter, is that the assets of the Plan are sufficient to cover substantially all of its liabilities, measured on its statutory funding basis. The Trustee monitors this funding level closely. The investment managers appointed by the Trustee invest the Plan’s assets with the aim of managing key financial risks. Importantly, whilst the Plan does invest in some securities issued by global companies, it does not currently invest in any equities (i.e. stocks and shares). Some of the Plan assets are in bonds or loans which are secured against underlying assets; so although their market price may have been impacted, unless the issuer actually defaults on payments the eventual returns will be unaffected. The benefits of the Trustee’s current investment strategy are most apparent when markets are volatile, as they have been in recent weeks.

New Member Nominated Directors

Earlier this year, the Member Nominated Director (MND) terms of office came to an end for Mr Huish and Mr Lakie. Mr Huish opted not to be considered for a further term, and Mr Lakie has become a Company appointed Director following the resignation of Mr Hopkins.

The Trustee would like to put on record its thanks to Mr Huish and Mr Hopkins for their contribution to the Board’s activities over recent years.

This left two MND vacancies on the Board. Following the MND appointment process Mr Russell Hines and Mr John Simmons have been appointed to the Trustee Board.

New administrator and contact details

In the May edition of Reflections we confirmed the Barnett Waddingham would be replacing Capita as the Plan administration. This took effect from 1 December 2019. Barnet Waddingham can be contacted here.

Member Nominated Director applications

The current term of office for two of the Plan’s Member Nominated Directors (MND) is due to end shortly. In accordance with the Trustee’s MND policy the application window is now open for new nominations. Further details on this process and the application forms can be found on the Member Nominated Directors page.

Plan Merger

The assets and liabilities of the ZF Lemforder UK Pension Plan and the ZF Great Britain Retirement Benefits Scheme were transferred to the TRW Pension Plan on 31 December 2018. Following this merger of the three pension schemes, the TRW Pension Plan has now been renamed the ZF UK Pension Plan.

Over the coming weeks and months this website will be updated to reflect the new Plan name.

All contact details remain unchanged.