Research and analysis

Research and analysis relating to automatic enrolment.

Declaration of compliance monthly reports

The automatic enrolment monthly declaration of compliance report is based on information provided to us by employers when they complete their declaration, supplemented by annual reports including additional analysis and commentary.

Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance: monthly report
Published: January 2021

Commentary and analysis reports on the impact of automatic enrolment and its role in increasing participation in workplace pension schemes.

Find older reports on the National Archives website.

Quarterly bulletins

You can now find our automatic enrolment compliance and enforcement quarterly bulletins in the Document library.

Employers research

Research to identify and track employers’ awareness, understanding, knowledge, attitudes and intended actions in relation to the 2012 pension reforms (automatic enrolment).

Find older employer research on the National Archives website.

Intermediaries research

Research to identify and track intermediaries’ awareness and understanding of automatic enrolment.

Intermediaries contacted include: independent financial advisors (IFAs), human resources (HR) professionals, payroll administrators, accountants and bookkeepers.

Research and analysis relating to defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.

DB pensions landscape

Annual report on all DB occupational pension schemes registered with TPR. Includes those also providing DC benefits, as well as schemes not eligible for the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

DB schemes survey

Research on DB trust-based pension schemes.

Long-term funding objective (LTO)

Research from the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD).

Purple Book

The Purple Book was a joint annual publication by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and The Pensions Regulator, focusing on the risks faced by DB pension schemes, predominantly in the private sector.

The Purple Book is now published by the PPF and can be found on the PPF website.

Scheme funding analysis

The annual scheme funding report is based on the analysis of valuations submitted to TPR by UK DB and hybrid schemes. The publication is produced in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code for official statistics which came into force in January 2009.

Scheme funding analysis 2020
Published: August 2020
Based on Tranche 13 schemes (with effective valuation dates falling from 22 September 2017 to 21 September 2018 inclusive).

Scheme funding analysis 2019
Published: June 2019
Based on Tranche 12 schemes (with effective valuation dates falling from 22 September 2016 to 21 September 2017 inclusive).

Scheme funding analysis 2019: annex

Find older scheme funding research on the National Archives website.

Annual funding statement research

Research findings relating to our defined benefit (DB) annual funding statements. You can find our DB annual funding statements in our statements section.

Find older reports on the National Archives website.

Research and analysis relating to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.

DC trust

DC trust is an annual publication giving a high-level snapshot of the trust-based DC and hybrid landscape.

We recommend that you use the most recent version of DC trust as it includes data for the past five years.

Find older reports on the National Archives website.

DC schemes survey

Research on DC trust-based pension schemes.

Find older surveys on the National Archives website.

Master trust authorisation has raised standards for the 16 million memberships saving into the 37 authorised schemes in the market, which have demonstrated that they meet the required standards across five key areas.

Master trust market post authorisation: final facts and figures
Published: November 2019

Research on pension schemes in the public sector.

Governance and administration risks in public service pension schemes: an engagement report
Published: September 2019
Our findings from our engagement with 10 local government funds, selected from across the UK, to understand scheme managers’ approaches to a number of key risks.

The perceptions tracker is an annual survey involving extensive interviews across our key stakeholder audiences. It enables us to monitor opinions and perceptions of us as a regulator and gives a good indication of how satisfied people are with their contact with us.