What are factors?

What are factors?

Factors are actuarial numbers used to help work out member compensation options, such as taking early retirement or taking part of their compensation as a cash lump sum.

Types of factors

We use a variety of factors to work out your PPF benefits. These Factors can include commutation factors, early retirement factors or late retirement factors. These help us make sure you receive the right pension. Find more information on factors.

Why factors change

When external factors change such as, financial markets, changes to inflation or changes to life expectancy, we update our factors to reflect this. A key reason is that as we’re a public body, we mustn’t make a profit or a loss, so we need to make sure that no matter what changes happen, your compensation is payable for life.

Our factors are usually more generous

According to industry research, our commutation (cash sum) factors are typically more generous than other pension schemes. 

How we keep you updated

Whenever we update our factors, we’ll put a clear message on our member website and on our Facebook page.