Strategic Report | Governance | Financial Statements | 91
GROUP AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT
REVIEW OF THE YEAR This is my first report as Chair of the Committee at Just Group. Firstly, I would like to thank my predecessor, Paul Bishop, for his commitment to the role before stepping down on 12 July 2023 when I took over. I have been a member of the Committee since 5 January 2023, and am pleased to have taken over as Committee Chair. I was also pleased to welcome Mary Kerrigan who joined as a member of the Committee with effect from 9 May 2023. The Committee currently comprises three independent Non-Executive Directors. Its members bring a wide range of financial and commercial expertise necessary to fulfil the Committee’s duties and includes appropriate life insurance accounting expertise. The Board is satisfied that the Committee Chair has recent and relevant financial experience as required by the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018 (the “Code”). As a whole, the Committee has competence relevant to the sector in which the Group operates. The Committee held nine meetings during the year. In addition to the members of the Committee, members of the executive and senior management teams attended the meetings to submit reports in their areas of responsibility. Other Non-Executive Directors were also invited to attend and contributed to the challenge and debate. The Group’s external auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), attended all meetings during the year. The Committee regularly set aside time at the beginning of meetings and met privately with each of the Group Chief Financial Officer, Director of Group Internal Audit, and the external auditor without executive management being present during the year to give them the opportunity to discuss any matters confidentially. The Committee received briefing sessions throughout the year on a number of relevant areas including Solvency II, implementation of the new IFRS 17 insurance accounting standard, longevity, and property assumptions, all of which were led by management’s subject matter experts. standing items considered at each meeting in addition to any matters arising and topical business or financial items which the Committee had decided to focus on. Regular reporting was received from Group Internal Audit and the external auditor as outlined later in this report. Key areas of focus during the year included the following matters. Financial reporting In 2023 and to date in 2024, the Committee: AREAS OF FOCUS The Committee follows an annual rolling forward agenda, with • oversaw the implementation of the IFRS 17 “Insurance contracts” and IFRS 9 “Financial instruments” accounting standards by the Group and its insurance subsidiaries; • reviewed the changes in the Group’s accounting policies for insurance contracts, including associated significant judgements; • reviewed the transition approach applied on adoption of IFRS 17 including the restatement of the opening balance sheet and 2022 results; • reviewed the existing key performance indicators (“KPIs”) used by the Group to assess its financial performance; • reviewed the alternative performance measures (“APMs”) used by the Group and how they are to be disclosed within the Annual Report and Accounts; • reviewed the changes in APMs and KPIs on adoption of IFRS 17; • considered the findings from the FRC’s thematic review of IFRS 17; • reviewed the assumptions critical to assessing the value of assets and liabilities, in particular insurance liabilities and LTMs; • reviewed documentation prepared in support of the going concern basis and longer-term viability assessment; • reviewed the IFRS operating profits of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2023; • reviewed 31 December 2023 Group Annual Report and Accounts and the half-year statements to 30 June 2023;
MARY PHIBBS Chair, Group Audit Committee
“I am pleased to present my report on behalf of the Group Audit Committee (“the Committee”) for the year ended 31 December 2023. This report outlines the main activities and areas of focus during the year.” ROLE The Committee is responsible for assisting the Board in discharging its responsibility for oversight of the Group’s financial and solvency reporting and the effectiveness of the Group’s systems of internal controls and related activities. The Committee is responsible for the oversight of the work and effectiveness of the Group Internal Audit function and the external auditors. The Committee considers the above matters from the perspective of the Company and each of the Group’s principal life companies, Just Retirement Limited (“JRL”) and Partnership Life Assurance Company Limited (“PLACL”), as well as from the perspective of any other Group entity as appropriate. The Committee works closely alongside other Committees, in particular the Group Risk and Compliance Committee (“GRCC”), with close co-operation between the Chairs of these Committees. The Chair of the Committee is also a member of the GRCC. This ensures that the audit work is focused on higher risk areas and the results of internal and external audit work can be used to inform the work of the GRCC. The full responsibilities of the Committee are set out in the terms of reference, which are reviewed annually and can be found at www.justgroupplc.co.uk.
MEMBERSHIP Mary Phibbs Mary Kerrigan Kalpana Shah
Chair
Independent Non-Executive Director Independent Non-Executive Director
Paul Bishop retired as a Director and Chair of the Committee on 12 July 2023. From the conclusion of the Company’s Annual General Meeting on 9 May 2023, Mary Kerrigan was appointed as a member of the Committee.
Committee meeting attendance can be found on p82 . Biographies of Committee members can be found on p72–74 .
Powered by FlippingBook