Liz McKeown to Ed Humpherson: Wealth and Assets Survey – valuation of defined benefit pension wealth

Published:

Sent from: Office for National Statistics

Sent to: Office for Statistics Regulation

Dear Ed, 

Wealth and Assets Survey: valuation of defined benefit pension wealth

Thank you for your letter of 8 September regarding the valuation of defined benefit (DB) pension wealth in the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS). We welcome you sharing the further feedback you have heard from stakeholders since your previous review of Wealth Statistics.

As you note, the decision to update our methodology was taken on the back of independent advice from the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD). Modelling DB pension wealth is a complex area of economic statistics. GAD therefore considered a range of approaches and recommended use of a consistent SCAPE-based discount rate, an approach which helps reduce short-term market volatility and better reflects the stable nature of DB pensions. We accepted this recommendation and set out our implementation plan in a report in late 2024, then updated the methodology in our 2020 to 2022 Household Total Wealth in Great Britain statistics (published in January 2025).

Following the OSR’s review of wealth statistics in June 2025, we have published a back series of data using the new methodology for WAS Round 7 (2018-2020) to support users who requested a longer comparable time series. We are also producing these data for all previous rounds of the survey, giving a complete and consistent back series, which we will publish this Autumn.

We have now published updated guidance, including the Wealth and Assets Survey guide, the Household total wealth in Great Britain quality and methods guide and a new Coherence and triangulation report, to support users in analysing and interpreting wealth statistics. We have also continued to strengthen our stakeholder engagement via our Wealth Expert Group, which provides a forum for discussing ongoing WAS developments alongside broader user needs for wealth statistics.

The actions you have proposed to further support our users in understanding the methodology for valuing DB Pensions wealth are therefore well-aligned with our ongoing work to strengthen both our guidance and user engagement. We will consider the best way to take these forward and will keep you updated on next steps.

I will also write to you separately, in the coming weeks, with a fuller update on our progress against the requirements set out in your review of wealth statistics.

Yours sincerely,

Liz McKeown

Ed Humpherson to Liz McKeown: Wealth and Assets Survey – valuation of defined benefit pension wealth