The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published a consultation on its policy to manage ‘out-of-cycle’ valuations for schemes that have recently fallen under its remit due to the change in definition of money purchase benefits.

Earlier in May, the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) announced its amendment to the definition following legal proceedings, resulting in some defined contribution schemes offering some form of guarantee, being reclassified as defined benefit (DB).

As a result, those schemes are covered by the PPF and will need to undergo valuations to submit their s179 figures by the end of Q1 2015 to be protected.

The consultation, which runs until 9 July 2014, seeks answers regarding whether the PPF should be allowed to require out-of-cycle valuations, and what benefits need to be included in its valuation guidance.

In other news, the £8bn (€9.8bn) Ford UK Pension Scheme, which consists of three DB offerings, has selected Punter Southall to provide the trustees with daily estimates of liabilities.

Using the consultant’s valuation software, the trustees of the three schemes will be able to monitor regular changes to liability profiles.

The Hourly Paid Contributory Pension Fund, the Salaried Contributory Pension Fund and the Senior Staff Pension Fund have 75,000 members in total, with trustees now able to implement a more reactive investment strategy, allowing trustees to monitor funding levels for comparison with investment allocation trigger points.