CATEGORIES

A completed entry will include:

1. Entry Form
2. 150 word company profile
3. 1000 Word Submission
4. Company Logo
   READ MORE ON HOW TO ENTER
   ENTRY FORM
   How to enter
   Nominating your company for an award can be a daunting experience if you’ve never done it before, but fortunately the entry process for the Ghana Pensions Awards could not be simpler – here’s how it works:
   Choose your categories
   You can enter as many categories as you like, submitting each entry separately via the online form. Visit the categories page to read the criteria.
   Write your main entry
   Your nomination will be judged on a supporting statement of no more than 1000 words. This should outline the type of work you have been doing in the pension fund space, be it in one or multiple European countries; any particular highlights over the last year; how your offering stands out from the rest in terms of excellence, innovation and, where relevant, performance; and what you have done to add value in the overall pensions space (for example, organized seminars, conferences, discussion papers etc).
   Write a brief company profile
   Tell us about your organization in 150 words or less. Your profile should give an overview of the company itself rather than the specific product, project or service, and may be used publicly in awards marketing material.
   Submit your nomination online via the entry form
   Upload all your documents (preferably in Word or PDF format) to the entry form and add your contact details so we can confirm that we’ve received your entry. Please note that there is a maximum 4mb size limit per file and our system may be unable to process your entry if you exceed this limit. Don’t forget your logo!
   A large, high quality company logo must be uploaded with each submission – if you’re nominating multiple companies for the same award please provide all relevant logos. If your entry is shortlisted, your logo will be displayed at the awards ceremony attended by hundreds of the leading names in the industry.
   Who can enter the Ghana Pensions Awards?
   The awards are open to any firm which serves pension funds in the country.
   How much does it cost to enter the awards?
   Nothing! The awards are and always have been completely free to enter.
   I’ve entered and received a confirmation email – what happens next?
   Soon after the awards close for entries, we will announce the shortlist, from which our judging panel will select the winners who will be announced at the Ghana Pensions Awards ceremony on 22 May 2020. The shortlist will be published on our website and all shortlist entrants will be notified by email.
   Read our guide to creating an awards entry
   Read our example awards entry
   TERMS & CONDITIONS:
   • Firms can enter more than one category.
   • Firms are encouraged to nominate themselves.
   • The award winners will be chosen by an extensive panel of INDEPENDENT expert judges, using a fair and transparent judging process.
   • Award entries must be kept to a maximum of 1000 words. Entries that exceed this word limit will be disqualified.
   • Additional material will not be accepted.
   • A clear time frame must be stated in the submission. The project should have been launched or come to fruition in the last 18 months.
   • Judges may not participate in those categories where there are conflicts of interest.
   WHY ENTER?
   • Stand out against the competition
   • Reward employees and motivate your team
   • Leverage your marketing – through PR and increased brand awareness
   • Attract talent
   • An opportunity to celebrate
   • If you are shortlisted your company logo will feature at the awards ceremony attended by hundreds of the leading names in the industry.

AWARD CATEGORIES

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES

1. Trust Secretary of the Year
2. Board of Trustees of the Year
3. Chief Investment Officer of the Year
4. Pensions Consultant of the Year
5. Pensions Custodian of the Year
6. Pensions Personality of the Year
7. Pension Journalist / Columnist / Writer of the Year
8. Pension Lifetime Achievement Award
9. Corporate Trustee Ceo of the Year

SERVICE PROVIDER CATEGORIES

1. Pension Fund Manager of the Year
2. Third Party (External) Administrator of the Year
3. Internal Administrator of the Year
4. Corporate Trustee of the Year
5. Custodian of the Year
6. Pensions Consultancy firm of the year

PENSION FUND CATEGORIES

1. Best Managed Personal Pension Plan
2. Best Managed Occupational Scheme
3. Best Managed Public Sector Scheme
4. Best Scheme on Governance
5. Best Employer Sponsored Scheme
6. Best Managed Micro Pension Scheme
7. Best Managed Collective/Mutual Funds

OTHER CATEGORIES

1. Pension Law Firm of the Year
2. Pensions Investment Innovation of the Year Award
3. Best Pensions Education & Sensitization Initiative
4. Pensions Educational Initiative of the Year
5. Corporate Social Responsibility Award
6. Pensions Insurance Firm of the Year
7. Pensions Technology Provider of the Year
8. Pensions Audit Firm of the year
9. Corporate Trustee Client Service Excellence Award

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• The awards are open to all private and public sector organizations operating in Ghana.
• The applicant organization must be a company licensed and registered by the SEC & NPRA to operate in Ghana.
• The applicant entity must have legal status as a Trustee/Custodian/Fund Manager.

CATEGORY EVALUATION CRITERIA

Evaluation Criteria – Individual Categories

The judging process of the individual categories will be depended on the submissions received from or on behalf of the nominee(s). The judges expect a submission document in soft copies not exceeding 3000 words in total which will state clearly why they believe the nominated person should win. Please include a biography of the person being nominated on a separate sheet of paper. The basis for the award determined as outlined below:

(a) Pensions Consultant of the Year – Personal award for specific achievement in advancing the interests of members and pension provision. Managers or employees in the respective profession may nominate themselves for this award.

(b) Pension Custodian of the Year – Personal award for specific achievement in advancing the interests of members and pension provision. Managers or employees in the respective profession may nominate themselves for this award.

(c) Board of Trustee Chairman of the year – Award for the trustee board chairman who has delivered the most for their scheme. Judges will look for evidence of particular problems or challenges they have helped overcome and how they did this along with innovations they helped the scheme to advance. Trustees and trustee boards may nominate the individuals for this award.

(d) Trust Secretary of the Year – Award for the trustee board trust secretary who has delivered the most for their scheme. Judges will look for evidence of particular problems or challenges they have helped overcome and how they did this along with innovations they helped the scheme to advance. Trustees and trustee boards may nominate the individuals for this award.

(e) Chief Investment Officer of the year-The winner will have achieved growth and excellent investment returns through strong, innovative leadership, strategic thinking and successful achievement of stated investment aims.

(f) Pension Journalist/writer of the year – The winner will have published articles on pension through journals, blogs, and newspaper columns on matters relating to pension and will have created awareness on savings or investments in the industry.

(g) Personality of the Year– This entry will be decided by Judges and will not require any submission. The winning individual will be someone who has made a personal contribution during the year under review to the success, growth, development and profile of their organization/scheme and to the reputation of the industry.

(h) Corporate Trustee Ceo of the year – Award for the trustee Ceo who has delivered the most for their scheme. Judges will look for evidence of particular problems or challenges they have helped overcome and how they did this along with innovations they helped the scheme to advance. Trustees and trustee boards may nominate the individuals for this award.

(i) Pensions Lifetime Achievement Award – This entry will be decided by Judges and will not require any submission. The winning individual will be someone who has made a personal contribution during the year under review to the success, growth, development and profile of their organization/scheme and to the reputation of the industry.

Evaluation Criteria – Service Providers Categories

The service providers’ categories will be evaluated based on innovations, performance and service offerings. There must be clear demonstration of how Judges will look at the extent at which the firm has developed its services, products and offerings for clients and the extent to which these services have helped pension schemes, employers, trustees and scheme members.

Service Providers Category – Assessments

1.1 Innovations

1.1.1 What specific innovations or new services have you launched over the 24 months?

1.1.2 What is available in addition to the basic core and value added services that are provided?

1.1.3 How do you liaise with clients to ensure developments continue to meet their needs?

1.1.4 Which new services have been introduced over the past year and how successful have they proved?

1.1.5 The extent to which these innovations helped pension schemes, sponsors, trustees and scheme members.

1.2 Performance

1.2.1 Has the firm been successful over the period? Can they describe and evidence their key success parameters?

1.2.2 How has the firm delivered excellent long term performance for its clients?

1.2.3 How do you measure how well you are performing for clients and how do you monitor performance or service standards and act on the results?

1.2.4 How frequently do account managers discuss performance and operational and service levels with clients on a face-to-face basis?

1.2.5 How is the Design, Content and Visual Appearance of your reports?

1.3 Service

1.3.1 In what ways have you improved your service to clients over the 24 months? 30

1.3.2 Have you provided any extra value services such as training courses, seminars or education to trustees/clients over the period?

1.3.3 Do you carry out formal research with clients to measure how effectively you meet or exceed their expectations?

1.3.4 How often do senior managers review operational standards against the service standards agreed with each client?

1.3.5 How do you report to clients and how do you ensure they receive up-to-date and meaningful information in a format that meets their requirements?

1.4 Additional disclosure for the fund managers

1.4.1 What investment governance decisions exist?

1.4.2 How is the research process conducted?

1.4.3 Past 3 year performance for overall portfolio?

Evaluation Criteria – Best Scheme on Governance

Governance is increasingly of significant importance to pension funds. This category will reward Schemes that have adopted high level of corporate governance in management of their schemes and the Judges will be looking at the following critical aspects of governance as a guide.

Best Scheme on governance – Assessment

1.1 Board Composition

1.1.1 Does the Board have, collectively, a mix of appropriate skills, knowledge and experience?

1.1.2 Does the Scheme continuously review the terms of appointment of the Trustees? What is the procedure of appointment?

1.1.3 Are there sufficient numbers in the Board and composition to achieve NPRA compliance requirement?

1.1.4 Are regular Board meetings held – How often per year do the BoT meet?

1.1.5 Does the board have a succession plan i.e. a rotation plan for the Board in order to avoid as much as possible the situation in which many Trustees retire at the same time?

1.1.6 Does a Board Charter exist for the Trustees?

1.20 Conflict of Interest

1.2.1 Is there a policy to disclose any potential area of conflict that may undermine their position as Trustees?

1.2.2 Has the entity disclosed whether it maintains a conflict of interest register?

1.30 Induction and Training

1.3.1 Is there an existence of a continuous skills development programme for the Board during the year?

1.3.2 Does the Scheme disclose whether members of the Board are given induction training?

1.40 Board Performance

1.4.1 Does the Scheme disclose the mechanisms to monitor performance of the board, committees and individual board members, including frequency and effectiveness?

1.5 Remuneration

1.5.1 Does the Scheme have a remuneration policy for the Trustees which provides clear establishments of a formal and transparent procedure for remuneration of Trustees, approved by the Sponsor?

1.6 Scheme Strategic Direction

1.6.1 Does the scheme have a vision and mission, business plan and strategic plan prepared by the Trustees? How well is this disclosed in the annual report and financial statements?

1.70 Conduct and Ethics

1.7.1 Is there a written code of conduct to be followed by the Trustees, members and service providers?

1.7.2 Does the entity disclose whether the code of ethics is distributed to all and that all Trustees are required to confirm periodically in writing that they have complied with the code of conduct?

1.80 Compliance/Statutory Accountability

1.8.1 Has the Board disclosed the existence of a process that identifies all legislation relevant to the Scheme, and monitors changes to the legislation and new legislation impacting on the Scheme?

1.9 Committees of the Board

1.9.1 Does the Board have any committee (s) and if yes, how effective are their functioning and reporting?

2 Policies and Procedures

2.1Does the scheme have any other documented policies and procedures? If yes, how effective are they?

2.2 Does the entity maintain a risk register which is regularly reviewed by the Board?