Prudential's Independent Governance Committee
To make sure we offer customers value for money, like all who offer workplace contract-based plans, we answer to an independent group called the Independent Governance Committee (IGC). This group of people represent your interests and act on your behalf by watching over what we do, and how we do it.
The IGC publishes an annual report which provides customers with the Committee’s opinion on the value for money delivered by their plans. You can read the latest Chairman's report. Please be aware that some investment return information in this report has been updated since it was published.
This report is complemented by our FAQ: "Your Questions Answered".
Chairman's previous reports
The IGC also invite you to find out more about the impact of costs and charges on your investments.
Or learn more about the IGC’s responsibilities, in their terms of reference.
Leave us some feedback – tell us what you want from the IGC.
- Where pension plans have a default investment, the committee makes sure the default option delivers policyholders value for money.
- It looks at the various investment strategies we adopt to make sure they are reasonable.
- It questions how we administer plans to make sure we process transactions quickly and correctly.
- It examines the charges we pass to customers and what it costs us to invest in our various funds.
- To consider Prudential's policies and practices in relation to Environmental, Social and Governance issues (ESG) and to listen to members concerns.
- It assesses the value offered by Investment Pathway solutions for pension drawdown.
- To act solely in customers' interests
- To assess, and where needed, challenge Prudential Assurance Company to make sure our workplace pension plans offer value for money. As part of this, the committee produces an annual report of opinion about how well we have performed
The IGC’s current approach to VfM takes account of a range of factors:
- Costs and Charges
- Investment performance
- Environmental and Social Governance
- Customer Service
- Customer Communications and Engagement
These have been weighted to reflect the Committee’s view that what ultimately matters is the outcome for Members.
The full VfM framework can be found in the annual Chairman's report.
The people behind our IGC
Our IGC members were chosen for their experience, interest, skill, knowledge and high industry profile.
Pat is an actuary and a former President of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland. He has many years’ experience of life assurance, pensions and investments through leadership roles with the AXA Group and other leading financial services firms.
Pat is an independent Director of RSA Insurance Ireland Ltd, Mercer Ireland Ltd and AXA Global Health (EU) Ltd. He was formerly an independent Director and later Chair of New Ireland Assurance Company; he was Chair of the Trustee Board of the AXA Ireland Pension Scheme for fifteen years and he served on the Personal Injuries Assessment Board that contributed to the transformation of personal injuries settlement in Ireland.
Pat has been a member of the IGC since April 2020 and was appointed Chairman in September 2023.
Paul is passionate about helping individuals build wealth via the workplace and has spent the last 20 years working for some of the UK's leading workplace pension providers. He is Chief Investment Officer of the Smart Pension Master Trust, where he is also a member of the Investment Sub-committee and Chair of the Scheme Strategist.
Before joining Smart Pension in 2019, Paul was a Managing Director at BlackRock (and subsequently Aegon), leading their UK defined contribution workplace pension business. He has also held senior positions at Fidelity International, AXA and PwC.
Mary is an experienced investment professional, having previously been a senior consultant and partner with Willis Towers Watson. She is a qualified actuary with over 25 years’ experience in the global investment and pensions industry.
Mary is a Non-Executive Director of Just Retirement Ltd, Partnership Assurance Ltd, New Ireland Assurance Company and Aegon Asset Management (UK) Ltd. She is also a Trustee of the London Irish Centre Charity. Mary is an expert on helping design, implement and monitor suitable investment strategies for your pension pot.
Gareth has over 20 years of experience in running large organisations that provide services to a diverse set of customers. Gareth has been with M&G for 6 years and is the Customer Service Director in M&G Life. He is passionate about delivering service to be proud of. Gareth has used his experience in management of operations, data & analytics, planning and combined this with the voice of customer to identify where and how we drive improvements.
Prior to joining M&G Gareth worked at British Telecom where he was responsible for the operational planning, data and reporting for a workforce of around 20,000 engineers visiting both residential and commercial premises.
Gareth has over 30 years’ experience in the life assurance industry, and since 2021 has worked as Actuarial Director and Head of Actuarial Function for Prudential International Assurance (a subsidiary of M&G plc based in Dublin). He has considerable experience in the design and implementation of pension, investment and long-term savings products, and of customer service and communications.
Prior to joining M&G plc Gareth worked in senior management roles in a number of European insurers including Aegon, Aviva and AXA. He is a qualified actuary, and currently serves as Council member of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland.
"Prudential" is a trading name of Prudential Distribution Limited. Prudential Distribution Limited is registered in Scotland. Registered Office at 5 Central Way, Kildean Business Park, Stirling, FK8 1FT. Registered number SC212640. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Prudential Distribution Limited is part of the same corporate group as the Prudential Assurance Company Limited. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited and Prudential Distribution Limited are direct/indirect subsidiaries of M&G plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom. These companies are not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America or Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in the United Kingdom.