Agenda

08.15 – 08.50: Registration and refreshments

08.50 – 09.00: Chairman’s welcome

Roger Cobley, Pension Trustee & Chairman, Stamford Associates

09.00 – 09.30: Opening Keynote Speaker
Louise Davey, Head of Policy, The Pensions Regulator (TPR)

Louise Davey will offer delegates a policy update, to include TPR’s priorities for the coming year and beyond. Topics include pension dashboards, consolidation and DC value for money; as well as the impact of the current cost-of-living crisis.

09.30 – 10.00: Inflation – the implications
Andrew Cole, Head of Multi Asset London, Pictet Asset Management

We are currently experiencing the biggest inflation shock in nearly forty years. Central Banks no longer talk about it being transitory but is it structural or cyclical and what are the implications for markets and the behaviour of savers?

10.00 – 10.30: Supporting Vulnerable Customers
Robert Cochran, Take To Market Specialist, Scottish Widows

As the cost-of-living crisis rolls on, the way the industry supports vulnerable customers becomes ever more important. In this session Scottish Widows, as part of Lloyds Banking Group, will share the incredibly rich data that goes into their Vulnerable Customer Dashboard and the way that the group supports pension customers. They’ll also share the digital suite of support that is available to employers, trustees and advisers.

10.30 – 11.00: evoCast Live! Value For Members: An opportunity to improve
Paul Bannister, CEO, Evolve Pensions
Jessica Rigby, Director of Strategy, Evolve Pensions

The value for members assessment affects all DC schemes with less than £100m of assets and which has been in operation for 3 years at 31 December 2021. The assessment must take place in the 12 months following the scheme year end after 31st December 2021 and a comparison made to 3 other similar schemes, one which could be used as a consolidating scheme. Evolve will look at ways a DC scheme can use the assessment to improve member outcomes and the overall governance provided by the trustee and the sponsor taking a detailed look at investments, administration, and communications.

11.00 – 11.30: Coffee break

11.30 – 12.00: The Energy Crisis – An acceleration towards Energy Transition?
Anish Majmudar, Head of Real Assets, M&G

Anish Majmudar discusses how the current energy crisis is reshaping attitudes and policy. He explores how the shift in focus of energy security is likely to accelerate the energy transition, and highlights some of the opportunities that M&G are seeing that have become more investable under the current climate.

12.00 – 12.30: Bridging the gap – the importance of embracing member engagement to drive financial resilience
Alana Brown, Master Trust Member Experience Lead, Standard Life
Karen Stewart, Vulnerable Customer - Centre of Excellence Consultant, Phoenix Group

As an industry members turn to us with the expectation that we will care and support them in the moments that matter. The cost of living crisis, unprecedented increases in interest rates and the ever changing market are exacerbating vulnerability. Looking for ways to increase financial equity and inclusion in the workplace and helping segments of your workforce who may be struggling is of increasing importance. In this session we share key insights to support segments of your workforce who may be less financially resilient. We take a look at the research and statistics beneath the headlines, and explore how employers can provide targeted support to help improve financial wellbeing.

12.30 – 13.00: Managing risk in a world of less leverage and heightened volatility
Kenneth Ettles, Investment Principal and Actuary, Aon

The recent gilt market crisis has led pension scheme investors to consider how they manage risk in a world of less leverage and heightened volatility. This session will review the key events of the crisis, the effect on pension funds and the economy – and actions taken to reduce risk and the potential negative impact on future investment strategies. Looking forward, how will the gilt crisis influence risk management, corporate-trustee partnerships, and the operation of LDI strategies?

13.00 – 14.00: Lunch break

14.00 – 14.30: Legal Hot Topics
Matthew Swynnerton, Partner and Head of London Pensions Team, DLA Piper

Matthew will offer a fascinating round-up of current legal issues including pension scam issues in relation to incentives and overseas investments, discrimination issues relating to provision of Shariah Law-compliant investment funds and other hot topics.

14.30 – 15.00: Origo’s Fireside Chat
Kim Campbell, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Origo
Richard Clark, Chief Commercial Officer, Origo
Ian Muir, Head of New Product Development, Origo

Kim, Richard and Ian will discuss Origo’s position as the key PDP technology partner in delivering the central digital architecture for the Pensions Dashboards ecosystem, and discuss what the programme will mean for pension providers and consumers. They will also talk about Origo’s ISP solution, Origo Dashboard Connector, which gives UK pension providers an easy, cost-effective and time-saving way of connecting to the pensions dashboards ecosystem. The trio will also examine the issues faced between providers and advisers in dealing with Letters of Authority (LoA). Origo has developed a digital system, Unipass Letter of Authority, a faster, safer, greener and cheaper way to LoA. They will also discuss the findings from the Lang Cat’s latest whitepaper, A Fragmented World, and research that Origo undertook with NextWealth, Welcoming Clients to Financial Planning: A Case for Industry Wide Process Improvement to highlight the changes that are required to fix the issues in the current LoA process.

15.00 – 15.30: Closing Keynote Speaker
Chris Curry, Director, Pensions Policy Institute, Principal, Pensions Dashboards Programme @MaPS

Chris will give an update on the programme’s progress, what is coming up over the coming months and focus on what industry can do to prepare ahead of staging dates.

15.30 – 16.30: Chairman’s roundup, close of conference and drinks reception