The deadline for registrations to enter the UK Pensions Awards 2025 – which celebrate excellence within the pensions industry – is this Friday (6 December).
Next year's event will mark the 28th anniversary of the UK Pensions Awards and will take place at a ceremony on 12 June 2025 at The Brewery in London.
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 will also be running a live Q+A webinar on Tuesday 10 December at 11am – where some of our judges will explain exactly what they are looking for in submissions and give you their top tips on what makes a good entry.
To receive a copy of the entry guidance pack and to find out how to listen to the Q+A, please register for the awards here: https://ukpensionsawards.com/live/en/page/2025-registration
Awards Process
This year there will be two stages in the awards process - the details of which are as follows
1. Registration: Please register for the awards by completing our awards registration form here. Registering to enter for the awards will mean we can send you essential updates about the UK Pensions Awards as soon as they are available.
It will also give you access to entry guidance and allow you to listen to our live Q+A with judges.
The deadline for registration is 6 December 2024.
2. Entry submission: Firms will then have to submit their entries. 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 5pm on Friday, 24 January 2025.
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.
Entering on behalf of a pension scheme for the Pension Scheme of the Year accolades. For the three Pension Scheme of the Year entries, we welcome employer or scheme entries that are supported or put forward by commercial providers such as consultants, insurers or master trust providers but these must be entered in the name of the client scheme or employer not in the name of the provider themselves.
The finalists list will be published on Monday, 17 March 2025 and the winners will be announced at a ceremony on 12 June 2025 at The Brewery in London.
Categories
We have made a number of changes to the category list for the 2025 awards in response to feedback we have received.
We have added a Run-on Provider of the Year category to reflect the growing number of solutions being introduced in this area.
Also, we have renamed the Risk Reduction Provider of the Year category as Risk Transfer Provider of the Year to better reflect market nomenclature.
The list of categories for the 2025 awards
Advisory Categories:
- Actuarial/Pensions Consultancy of the Year
- DC Consultancy of the Year
- Investment Consultancy of the Year
- Pensions Lawyer of the Year
- Pensions Litigation Firm of the Year
- Risk Reduction Adviser of the Year
- Fiduciary Evaluator of the Year
- Sponsor Covenant / IRM Adviser of the Year
DC Categories:
- DC Pension Provider of the Year
- DC Investment 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 and Private Markets Investment Manager of the Year
- ESG Manager of the Year
- Impact Manager of the Year
- Liability-Driven Investment (LDI) Manager of the Year
- Cashflow-Driven Investment (CDI) Manager of the Year
- Risk Transfer Provider of the Year ***RENAMED FOR 2025***
- Alternative Endgame Solution Provider of the Year
- Run-on Provider of the Year ***NEW FOR 2025***
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
- Educational and Thought Leadership Initiative of the Year
- Retirement Innovation of the Year
Pension Scheme of the Year Award Categories:
The following three categories are only open to non-commercial pension schemes. Commercial providers such as insurers offering GPPs, master trusts and consolidators should enter the provider awards above. We do, however, welcome employer entries that are supported or put forward by commercial providers, but they must be in the name of the client scheme or employer not in the name of the provider themselves.
-
Pension Scheme of the Year
This category is open to both DB and DC schemes of all sizes but is not open to entry by commercial master trusts (which are covered by the ‘DC Master Trust of the Year' and ‘DB Master Trust / Consolidator of the Year' categories above.
Judges assessing this category will be looking at innovations the scheme has made over the 12 months to 31 December 2024; what entrants have done to improve member experience, service and outcomes; improvements and innovations they have made to their investment strategy; and how they have successfully engaged and communicated with their members. It will also assess how funds have improved their governance and administration during the period as well as at-retirement processes as applicable.
- Best Pension Scheme Investment Strategy
- Best Pension Scheme Communications Strategy
This category is open to both DB and DC schemes of all sizes but is not open to entry by commercial group personal pension providers, master trusts or consolidators (which would be covered by the ‘Pensions Communication Initiative of the Year' categories above. GPP providers and commercial master trusts are, however, allowed to put forward an entry on behalf of one of their employer or pension scheme clients.
Judges assessing this category will be looking for evidence of a successful communications or engagement project or strategy – particularly looking for evidence on the effectiveness of its communication, the way it has used technology to support its strategy and any innovations it has employed.
