UK Pensions Awards 2021: Open for entries

The event will mark the 24th anniversary of the UK Pensions Awards and will take place at a ceremony in September.

This year, we will be including a number of innovations to help you complete your entries.

As well as publishing an entry guidance pack, we also hosted a live Q+A with judges who explained exactly what they will be looking for in submissions and shared their top tips on what makes a good entry.

To receive a copy of the entry guidance pack or to find out how to listen to the recorded version of Q+A, please register to enter the awards (see below).

Awards Process

This year there will be two stages in the awards process - the deadlines of which are as follows:

1. Registration: Firms need to register for the awards and let us know what categories they plan to enter. They can do this by begining the entry process at https://ukpensionsawards.com/live/en/page/enter-now

Registration is hugely important. Registering to enter for the awards will mean we can send you essential updates about the UK Pensions Awards 2021 as soon as they are available.

2. Entry submission: Firms that register will then have to submit their entry form. The judges will use this form to draw up the finalists list and decide on the final winners. The deadline for receipt of the entries is Friday, 26 February 2021.

The entry forms and submissions will be considered by a panel of judges made up from professionals from across the occupational pensions industry. These judges will be announced in Professional Pensions over the coming weeks.

The finalists list will be published on Monday, 3 May 2021 and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in September 2021.

Should you have any queries relating to the awards process, please contact Ellie Harris via [email protected].

Categories

We have made a number of changes to the category list for the 2021 awards in response to feedback we have received.

We have removed the DC Investment Innovation of the Year category, responding to feedback this category was too similar to the DC Investment Manager of the Year. Likewise, we have withdrawn the Fixed Income Innovation of the Year category due to its overlap with the Fixed Income Manager of the Year category. We have also renamed the Sponsor Covenant Provider of the Year category to Sponsor Covenant / IRM Adviser of the Year to reflect the broader range of work done by firms in this area.

The full list of categories for the 2021 awards is:

Pensions Personality of the Year Award:

The Pensions Personality of the Year Award will, as in previous years, be decided by an industry-wide nomination and voting process - no entries are needed in this category. The winner of the award will be unveiled at the UK Pensions Awards presentation

Advisory Categories:

- Actuarial/Pensions Consultancy of the Year

- DC Consultancy of the Year

- Investment Consultancy of the Year

- Pension Lawyers of the Year

- Pensions Litigation Firm of the Year

- Risk Reduction Adviser of the Year

- Fiduciary Evaluator of the Year

DC Categories:

- DC Pension Provider of the Year

- DC Investment Manager of the Year

- DC Multi-Asset Fund Manager of the Year

- DC Master Trust of the Year

- DC Innovation of the Year

Investment Categories:

- Investment Manager of the Year

- Fiduciary Manager of the Year

- Institutional Investment Platform Provider of the Year

- Equity Manager of the Year

- Fixed Income Manager of the Year

- Factor Investing Manager of the Year

- DB Multi-Asset Manager of the Year

- Emerging Markets Manager of the Year

- Real Estate Manager of the Year

- Alternative Investment Manager of the Year

- Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Manager of the Year

- Liability-Driven Investment (LDI) Manager of the Year

- Cashflow-driven Investment (CDI) Manager of the Year

- Risk Reduction Provider of the Year

- DB Investment Innovation of the Year

Other Categories:

- Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award

- Independent Trustee of the Year

- Third-Party Administrator of the Year

- Technology Innovation of the Year

- Pensions Communication Initiative of the Year

- DB Master Trust / Consolidator of the Year 

- Educational and Thought Leadership Initiative of the Year

- Sponsor Covenant / IRM Adviser of the Year *** Renamed for 2021***

- Retirement Innovation of the Year

For any queries relating to the awards process, please contact Ellie Harris via [email protected].