Agenda
Downloadable Presentations:
Neil Bull, Investment Consultant, The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
Francis Fernandes, Senior Adviser, Lincoln Pensions and Jane Roskill, Chair of Trustees, Quilter Cheviot Retirement Benefits Scheme
James Mullins, Partner and Head of Risk Transfer, Hymans Robertson
Agenda
08:30 – 08:50: Registration and refreshments
08:50 – 09:00: Welcome
David Richardson, CEO, Just Group
Richard Butcher, Managing Director, PTL (Conference Chairman)
09:00 – 09:30: Opening keynote speaker
Neil Bull, Investment Consultant, The Pensions Regulator (TPR)
Neil will tackle the issue of de-risking from The Pensions Regulator’s perspective, offering TPR’s views on this topical subject that should be at the forefront of any pension trustee’s thinking.
09:30 – 10:00: Designing your journey plan, what should trustees consider?
Myles Pink, Partner, Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP)
Myles will examine the different targets that pension schemes could aim for in designing their journey plans. He will explore what influences trustees in choosing the most appropriate target for their schemes and the most appropriate journey plan to reach it.
10:00 – 10:40: Panel: Journey planning from the trustee viewpoint – what are the issues?
Panel chair: Andrew Ward, Partner, Leader Risk Transfer & DB Journey planning, Mercer
Hugh Nolan, Senior Trustee Representative, Dalriada
Alan Pickering CBE, President, BESTrustees
Duncan Willsher, Trustee Director, 2020 Trustees
This panel of pension fund trustees will use their first-hand experiences to discuss the issues trustees of even the smaller schemes should be aware of when it comes to their DB journey planning.
10:40 – 11:10: A case study on paying benefits. Do you have an end game? Is it flying off course?
Jane Kola, Partner, ARC Pensions Law
John Oldland, Director, Pi Pension Trustees
There’s nothing worse for a sponsor than a trend of ‘nasty surprises’. Adverse changes to interest rates, volatile markets and sponsor trading conditions are things over which trustees don’t have meaningful control – they’re risks to be monitored and managed. But paying the right benefits is well within their control – so a series of nasty surprises on what benefits should be isn’t something a sponsor should have to deal with. This case study will cover a smaller scheme some 15 years from its end game.
11:10 – 11:30: Coffee break
11:30 – 12:10: Panel: How to prepare for consolidation – the provider view
Panel chair: John Baines, Head of Bulk Annuities, Aon
Tim Coulson, Director DB Solutions, Just
Nick Johnson, Chief Actuarial Officer, Clara Pensions
Paul Murphy, Head of Strategy & Business Development, TPT
This panel of experts will offer tips and guidance on how schemes of all sizes can prepare for consolidation to ensure as smooth a journey as possible.
12:10 – 12:40: Administration and governance matters! Minimising data risk on the road to your end game
Jay Solanki, Head of Trustee Secretarial Services, Premier
Is your data accurate and complete? This session will outline the key areas of focus, for schemes and their administration partners, to ensure data is in order and the trust deed and rules are up-to-date.
12:40 – 13:10: Making sense of the slowdown: understanding the latest longevity trends
Richard Willets, Expert Longevity Consultant, Just
The pace of life expectancy improvement has slowed dramatically in recent years. What factors have driven this deceleration? Will the slowdown be short-lived and what are the implications for pension schemes?
13:10 – 14:10: Lunch
14:10 – 14:40: Reflecting the employer covenant in journey plans to navigate the twists and turns to a safe harbour – a case study
Francis Fernandes, Senior Adviser, Lincoln Pensions
Jane Roskill, Chair of Trustees, Quilter Cheviot Retirement Benefits Scheme
The employer covenant stands behind the investment and other risks being run in a DB scheme, therefore the ‘shape’ of the journey planning is influenced by the expected covenant support and must be monitored to ensure the journey plan remains robust. This session will cover journey planning from the perspective of a smaller DB scheme with an emphasis on the practicalities.
14:40 – 15:10: Completing de-risking – practical advice from a trustee and consultant who’ve made it happen
James Mullins, Partner and Head of Risk Transfer, Hymans Robertson
Nita Tinn, Client Director, ITS
Practical advice from the de-risking practice of a consultancy and their client(s) on how they overcome challenges to complete derisking. This session will focus on the learnings on the road to buy-in and buy-out.
15:10 – 15:40: Closing keynote speaker
Helen Beckinsale, Panel Manager, Pension Protection Fund (PPF)
In her session, Helen will give a PPF perspective on what action trustees can and should be taking if they think their employer is in trouble and there is a risk that their scheme could enter the Pension Protection Fund. She will give an overview of why planning for a PPF scenario is important and explain the PPF processes. She will then talk in more detail about the kind of issues she encounters, where things have gone wrong for trustees and where they have gone well, all seen through the lens of maintaining members’ confidence that their pension is safe.
15:40 – 15:45: Chairman’s round-up
15:45 – Onwards: Close of conference and drinks reception
