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Home / GOVERNANCE · Module 5: Scheme Documentation and Governance in Practice
Mapped to all 92 assessment criteria in the published PMI Award in Pension Trusteeship syllabus, arranged here into 22 units and 91 topics.

APT·ModuleGOVERNANCE

Module 5: Scheme Documentation and Governance in Practice

Module 5 works through the documents a trustee board actually receives and has to be able to read. It starts with the trust deed and rules and the balance of power between the employer and the trustees, then covers the classes of member a scheme has, the benefits offered and when they become payable, scheme booklets and other member communications, and awareness of pension scams. It goes on to the actuarial valuation report, the schedule of contributions and payment schedule, the annual report and accounts and significant contracts covering scheme assets, then to trustee minutes, stewardship reports, internal control reports, trustee-approved procedures and the statement of compliance. The module closes with the practical business of running a board through a corporate trustee’s constitution, a scheme business plan and the job descriptions for the chair and the other trustees. PMI sets out its seven learning outcomes as a flat list, so this module and the units inside it are our own arrangement of the published assessment criteria.

Questions
768
Units
5
Topics
19

What’s in it.

5 units

Sample questions

3 of many

A few questions from this module, with the answer and a full explanation. The complete bank is available when you start practising.

  1. A trustee board has adopted a written document setting out how declared conflicts are recorded in a register and managed once identified. Which type of trustee-approved procedure is this?

    • A data protection and cyber security policy
    • A conflicts of interest policy
      Correct answer
    • A business continuity plan
    • A trustee training policy
    Explanation

    A document specifically governing how conflicts are recorded and managed is the trustee-approved conflicts of interest policy, distinct from other categories of procedure such as business continuity or breach-reporting. Key takeaway: content about recording and managing conflicts identifies a conflicts of interest policy specifically.

  2. What is meant by a scheme's "scheme year" in the context of the annual report?

    • The calendar year running from 1 January to 31 December
    • A scheme's own 12-month accounting period for reporting purposes
      Correct answer
    • The period since the scheme's trust deed was last amended
    • The period between successive full actuarial valuations
    Explanation

    A scheme year is the scheme's own 12-month accounting period used for its annual report, accounts and related statutory reporting, which need not follow the calendar year. Key takeaway: 'scheme year' is a scheme-specific 12-month reporting period, not necessarily the calendar year.

  3. A corporate trustee's articles are silent on whether the chair has a casting vote. Separately, a scheme run by individual trustees under a trust deed that is also silent on the point faces the same tied-vote situation. Are the two situations directly comparable?

    • No, but only because individual trustee boards are legally prohibited from ever using a casting vote.
    • No, because a corporate trustee's Model Articles can never confer a casting vote on a chair.
    • No: company law can give the corporate trustee a default casting vote if its articles are silent; a trust deed has no such default.
      Correct answer
    • Yes, because The Pensions Regulator's General Code supplies an identical default casting-vote rule for both structures.
    Explanation

    A corporate trustee is a company, so where its bespoke articles are silent on a point like the casting vote, the statutory Model Articles can supply a default position; an individual trustee board operating under a trust deed has no equivalent statutory fallback, so silence in the trust deed leaves the position genuinely unresolved rather than defaulting to a casting vote. Key takeaway: company-law defaults available to a corporate trustee do not have a direct equivalent for an individual trustee board governed only by a trust deed.

Frequently asked questions

4 questions
What is the trust deed and rules?

The trust deed and rules is the governing document of an occupational pension scheme. It establishes the trust, provides for the appointment of trustees, sets out the benefits and the contributions, and defines the powers and discretions held by the trustees and by the employer. It is read alongside pensions legislation, which overrides it in places.

What goes into a scheme annual report and accounts?

The annual report contains the audited financial statements for the scheme year, the auditor’s statement about contributions, a trustees’ report covering membership and any scheme changes, and an investment report. A defined benefit scheme also includes actuarial information.

Why do trustee meeting minutes matter?

Minutes are the record of what the trustees decided and why. They evidence that a decision was taken properly, with the right information and advice in front of the board, which matters if the decision is later questioned by a member, by the employer or by the regulator.

What is an internal control report?

Schemes rely on administrators, investment managers and other providers, and an internal control report gives trustees independent assurance about the control environment at those providers. Trustees use it as part of monitoring administration risk rather than as a substitute for their own oversight.