Facts and figures

Every year the Trustee must prepare the Trustee Report & Accounts. This includes information about the Trustee, their advisors and details about the assets of the Plan alongside an analysis of the contributions paid to and payments made from the Plan. The full document is available on request, but we have included the summary of the membership at 31 December 2023 below with an overview of contributions paid to and from the Plan as at this date.

The Trustee Report & Accounts is independently audited by Deloitte.

Membership

At 31 December 2023, the Plan’s membership looked like this:

¹ Members who have ceased further accrual to the Plan, but keep the right to pension benefits when they retire.
² Members who are currently receiving their pension benefits.

Contributions and benefits

*You may notice that the company contributions are low in comparison to the value of the Plan, but this is due to the strong funding position that leaves the Plan with surplus assets.

Summary Funding Statement

The formal triennial actuarial valuation as at 31 December 2021 was agreed and signed in March 2023.

Dow Services Section

The 2021 Actuarial Valuation Report showed that the funding level of the Dow Services Section was 100.7%. The funding update at 31 December 2022 disclosed a funding level of 106% with the assets valued at £809m and the Section’s liabilities calculated by the Plan Actuary at £761.8m. The funding update at 31 December 2023 showed a funding level of 106.6% with the assets valued at £794.7m and the Section’s liabilities calculated by the Plan Actuary at £745.4m.

Further information can be found at www.mydowpension.co.uk/dow-services-section/document-library

DCL Section

The funding level of the DCL Section disclosed in the 2021 Actuarial Valuation Report was 101.9%. The funding update at 31 December 2022 showed a funding level of 104% with the assets valued at £388.3m and the Section’s liabilities calculated by the Plan Actuary at £375.3m. The funding update at 31 December 2023 showed a funding level of 103.5% with the assets valued at £378.0m and the Section’s liabilities calculated by the Plan Actuary at £365.3m.

Further information can be found at www.mydowpension.co.uk/dcl-section/document-library

Funding level

The funding level of the Dow Services Section has improved since the 31 December 2021 valuation due to a significant fall in liability value following the increase of gilt yields, which was partially offset by a fall in the value of the Dow Services Section assets.

The DCL section funding level has also improved slightly since the 31 December 2021 valuation. It is important to remember the liabilities of the DCL Section have been secured by the bulk annuity transaction carried out with Rothesay in December 2021. This was reported on in last year’s edition of Spotlight.

Please note that it is expected both Sections’ funding levels will vary over time, as both economic and investment market conditions change.

Funding level