The awards are open to those working for firms operating in the UK's pensions industry as well as those either working for, or governing, individual occupational pension schemes.

Nominees can be in roles including, but not limited to pensions management; trusteeship; actuarial; pensions and investment consulting; legal advice; investment management; fiduciary management; and scheme administration.

Nominations can also be made for those involved in roles such as sales, marketing, or communications at organisations whose primary business is related to occupational pensions.

Please note that there is a strict limit of two entries per person. Women currently on maternity leave and women who have retired (at a date no earlier than 1 December 2023) can also be nominated.

Nominees will be judged predominantly on their achievements during the 2023/24 financial year, apart from those entering the Lifetime Achievement Award category.

Lifetime Achievement Award

This award is in recognition of a woman who has risen to the top of the UK pensions career ladder and is an inspiration to future female leaders. This nominee must be able to demonstrate considerable experience across the industry, and be an illustrious figure within pensions.

Pensions Woman of the Year

The nominee must have helped raise the profile of occupational pensions as a career for women either through education, training, leadership, mentoring or acting as a role model. The award is not specific to any particular role or job title. The nominee must also be able to demonstrate their influence in attracting and/or retaining women into pensions during 2023 and 2024.

Pensions Manager of the Year

This nominee must work in a senior role at a UK in-house occupational pension schemes in either the public or private sector. It is most suitable to those at ‘head of pensions' or ‘pensions director' levels, but also open to those on the senior management team of in-house schemes, such as those leading the investment or administration functions of a scheme.

Trustee of the Year

This accolade aims to recognise a leading woman in UK pension trusteeship who can clearly demonstrate excellence within their role alongside additional achievements and successes as a trustee. It is open to both professional (independent) and lay trustees.

Adviser of the Year

This accolade aims to recognise a woman who works as a pension scheme actuary, investment consultant, or in another advisory role. This recipient will be a successful pension scheme adviser and able to demonstrate a strong track record of achievements.

Lawyer of the Year

The recipient may be either a lawyer or legal adviser to a UK pension scheme, either in-house or at an external firm. It is particularly suitable for those with a minimum of five years' experience in the field who can demonstrate a clear commitment to the role of legal professionals within occupational pensions.

Sales/Marketing/Communications Professional of the Year

This category is open to women working in a senior sales, marketing or communications role in a firm that provides products and services to UK occupational pension schemes. It is particularly suitable for those with at least ten years' experience in the field that can demonstrate an extensive commitment to the occupational pensions sector.

Administrator of the Year

The recipient must administrate a UK pension scheme(s), either as part of an in-house team or at a third-party administration business. Recipients should be experienced within their field, and demonstrate high level of commitment to achieving above and beyond in their work.

Investment Manager of the Year

This award is open to nominees managing investments for UK pension schemes, either as part of an in-house team or at a third-party asset management business. Nominees can be the lead or part of a joint all female or mixed gender management team. The award will be judged primarily on qualitative factors such as commitment and excellence, rather than performance.

Young Achiever of the Year

This new award is open to women in the UK occupational pensions sector at the beginning of their career. The recipient must have made a strong impact in a short space of time and impressed colleagues with their desire to succeed and strive to achieve excellence in the workplace, and are most likely to progress further. Nominees must be aged 30 or under on 30 April 2024.

Newcomer of the Year 

Nominees for this new award must have transferred from a different industry into the pensions sector and impressed colleagues and clients with their excellence and success in the workplace. There is no age limit for this category, but nominees must have transferred to the pensions sector from another industry in last three years, and are therefore not graduates or school leavers.

Innovator of the Year

This award is aimed at a woman designing, developing, researching, implementing or being exceptionally creative in pensions in an unconventional and innovative way. This could include running a personal business or be related to work within a pensions company or organisation.

Mentor of the Year

This award is open to both men and women in the pensions sector who have supported and encouraged women to fulfil their potential within the workplace. Nominees must demonstrate a high level of mentorship work both within their role and in self-motivated projects.

Team Leader of the Year

This award is open to women in the pensions sector who head up a team and can demonstrate specific excellence in leadership, communication, and vision. The recipient must manage a team of three or more other workers and excel both in their own position as well as specifically as a team leader.

LGBTQI+ Trailblazer Award 

This award is open to women in the pensions sector who have gone above in beyond in work specific to the advancement or benefit of the LGBTQI+ community. This could be either in relation to the development of a product, initiative, offering, programme, or tool specifically targeting the community, or work bolstering the representation of LGBTQI+ staffers within the nominee’s own workplace.

Unsung Hero Award 

Aimed at women in support roles in the UK pensions industry who have gone above and beyond to contribute to their scheme or business, drive change, support a team or encourage diversity & inclusion in the workplace. In particular, the judges will consider their impact at a scheme, company, team or industry level over the 2023/24 year.

Sustainability & ESG Woman of the Year

Open to women working in the UK pensions industry who can demonstrate how they have championed sustainable & ESG investing at their own firm or scheme, across the wider industry and/or helped promote this area. They should be able to give examples of the impact they have made in sustainability & ESG, especially during the 2023/24 year. Entrants can come from any job role in the UK pensions industry.

Organisational Award for Supporting Diversity

Open to companies in the pensions sector and pension schemes who have supported and facilitated initiatives to improve diversity within the organisation. Nominees will be asked to demonstrate their achievements over the 2023/24 year.

Notes:

Only entries via the nomination system will be considered. It is up to the nominators to ensure contact details of those being nominated are correct. The panel reserves the right to close a category should the quality of entrants be deemed too low to judge; remove an entry if in the opinion of the judges the criteria has not been followed; or suggest another more appropriate category for entrants. The panel will take into account nominee responses as well as third-party research such as websites and social media. The panel reserves the right to use public voting where appropriate. The decision of the chairperson is final.