Driving operational excellence with West Midlands Pension Fund

Transforming to meet changing regulations

West Midlands Pension Fund delivers pension benefits to 360,000 members and works with more than 800 employers; it’s one of the largest pension funds in the UK. 

The Fund is having to deal with many changes, including substantial regulatory changes to pension reforms which require the £400bn Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS) sector to adapt at pace. Alongside this, member needs are evolving and the number of retirement quotation requests is increasing. 

The Fund needed to transform – requiring a solution that could both relieve short-term pressures and provide a service fit for the future. With the client’s strategy of achieving a step-change in customer service and building operating model resilience in mind, PwC stood up a team with specialist expertise to help.

Our work

The immediate demands and long-term impact highlighted the need for specialist technical support and enhanced operational capacity. Strategic guidance was also needed to identify transformational opportunities and drive process improvements for sustained success.

As part of a period of rapid discovery, we worked closely with the in-house team at the Fund to understand current administration processes, operational pressures and strategic priorities. 

We brought together a team of over 30 experts from across our pensions actuarial team - including an operational delivery team within our Executive Managed Services business - to develop tailored models and processes. This allowed us to mobilise quickly to deliver pensions administration services.  

We provided surge support to the in-house administration team, easing the immediate pressure they faced to reduce the time taken to complete a member request. 

Our work has allowed the Fund to improve the speed at which they serve their members, while freeing up their own resources to focus on developing and delivering broader strategic initiatives.

Through a continued feedback loop and co-creation with the Fund, we’ve helped identify long-term process improvement opportunities. We’ve also developed technology assets to digitise manual processes that will become embedded in the Fund’s operations going forward. 

Our impact

We supported the Fund in achieving its objectives through strategic advice, delivery capability, and innovative solutions, amid significant regulatory changes. Our seamless support during this transition ensured minimal customer impact. 

We successfully executed thousands of processes within target SLAs, including the payment of pension benefits to vulnerable members. The positive feedback from key stakeholders and members reflects the substantial value we contributed during these changes. 

Our work empowered the Fund’s in-house team to implement new processes and technology, enhance their data architecture, and improve member services. Now, the Fund is well-equipped to confidently pursue its strategic priorities, leveraging the stability and effectiveness of its improved service delivery.