Peer Intelligence | Winter 2024

Evolving the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark

By Edsart Heuberger

In July, we published the third edition of the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark ("GPTB"). The GPTB, a collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking, scores the five largest organizations in fifteen countries on the transparency of their public disclosures across four factors: performance, cost, governance, and responsible investing. 

Each year, the benchmark has evolved. In 2022, transparency scores for individual pension organizations were published for the first time. This created a new discussion. In 2023, more robust governance and processes were introduced to provide participating organizations with more insight into their scores and our methodology. 

After engaging with GPTB participants one-on-one and receiving valuable feedback, we have made the following updates for 2024:   

Refreshing the survey 

We will update this year’s survey for the first time since the launch of the GPTB in 2020. There are three areas of focus: 

• Minimizing subjectivity in the questions while adding clarity, where needed, around definitions.
• Updating the responsible investing survey. Responsible investing reporting has evolved materially in the last three years and will continue to do so.
• Aligning the cost survey questions with cost reporting best practices as set out by CEM Benchmarking’s Global Reporting Principles. 

We will share the new survey in the coming weeks and open a four-week consultation period, so you can provide feedback on the new survey. Following the consultation period, the final survey for the next edition of the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark will be shared on the GPTB website. 

New and improved timing 

Going forward, the GPTB website will be published in late October. The later publication date ensures that all the scores are based on the latest (annual) reports for funds with December, or March year-ends.

Growing the benchmark 

We will continue to review the five largest pension organizations in fifteen countries as part of the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark this year. After receiving interest from organizations outside this group, we are exploring ways to include additional funds while maintaining the regional and year-over-year comparability of the results. 

Our mission is to continue to bring focus to transparency globally in a bid to improve pension outcomes for all funds and their members. We look forward to keeping you informed on GTPB as the initiative continues to grow and evolve. 

If you would like more information about this initiative, please reach out to your CEM Relationship Manager directly or click here.