There are many reasons why DC schemes should consider investing in private markets on behalf of their members: to deliver returns that listed markets may no longer offer, to improve diversification and to deliver impact that can make members proud of their pension, increasing engagement. All of these are critical to delivering good member outcomes. In this session, we’ll discuss:

• Why private markets are important to the future of DC
• How private market investments can help drive member engagement
• Cushon’s investment strategy and why the private markets allocation is an important feature

Ben Pollard, Founder & CEO, Cushon
Danny Meehan, Head of Workplace Savings, Cushon

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area and enjoy a tasty lunch.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Pension Prophets will be on for the first fifteen minutes of the lunch break from 12:40 - 12:55

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Jennie Kreser, Consultant, Laytons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

Regulatory pressures on smaller DC schemes are expected to accelerate the consolidation trend. Many schemes will have to either wind up the scheme or identify the improvements they plan to make to the scheme to keep it open. This session will go through what types of schemes are least/best suited to a Master Trust, how to pick a provider and the wind-up process.

Mark Futcher, Partner and Head of DC, Employee Consulting, Barnett Waddingham

We are all talking about Net Zero, and it’s everywhere, at product, company and state/government level. The science is compelling, the path to get there is also becoming clearer in many ways, notably thanks to the recent IPCC report where the enormity of the situation is plain to see, with key temperature limits likely to be broken within just over a decade. What does it mean however for financial institutions and our industry to contribute to this objective? Is it enough for an asset manager to simply sign a pledge, and make bold statements that ultimately won’t be achievable on their watch? And what about the data, no real minimum standards, so much more we need to do, like ensuring we are analysing the right data points to understand what these investments really are financing in terms of the climate scenario?

Manuel Coeslier, Portfolio Manager and SRI Analyst, Mirova
Nick Groom, Head of UK DC Strategy and Sales, Natixis

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area, grab a coffee and a bite to eat.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees
James Phillips, Deputy Editor, Professional Pensions

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

Provisions for the establishment of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes are outlined in the Pension Schemes Act 2021 with the Treasury having published its draft tax legislation for their enablement last July - expected to be effective from 6 April. However, there are still many question marks over the payments of benefits, cost of consultancy fees and it being an untried and untested concept. This panel will discuss predicted returns for members on a CDC scheme compared with a tradition DC and the practicalities of setting up a CDC.

Mark Hedges, Professional Trustee, Capital Cranfield
Jon Millidge MBE, Director of Pension Reform, Royal Mail Group
Terry Pullinger, Deputy General Secretary Postal, Communication Workers Union

Chair: Jonathan Stapleton, Editor-in-Chief, Professional Pensions

The decision for individuals on what to do with their pension savings at retirement is likely to be the most difficult financial decision they ever take. The range of choices continues to grow and the cost of making a mistake is becoming greater as more people rely on their DC savings or look to reshape their DB pension. Despite this, pension schemes and DC pension schemes in particular, are often not providing the support that people need. This creates a huge risk to the individual who may understandably be expecting an appropriate default retirement option to be available. In this session Steven will look at the potential impact of people making bad retirement decisions and explore what approaches some schemes are now taking to provide appropriate support to help people take better decisions at retirement.

Steven Leigh, Associate Partner, Aon

The pensions industry has fared surprisingly well over the last year, but is the real impact still to come? The unprecedented pressure on sponsoring employers may be hiding the reality that some journey plans are not as robust as may have been anticipated. There is also increased focus from The Pensions Regulator on the future governance of pension schemes, potentially resulting in more regulatory burden and increased workloads for trustees.

• Is your employer sustainable?
• Do we expect to see the journey plans of schemes changing?
• Are you prepared for what lies ahead?

Ali Tayyebi, Partner, Actuarial Consulting, Barnett Waddingham
Barbara-Ann Thompson, Partner, Actuarial Consulting, Barnett Waddingham

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area and enjoy a tasty lunch.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Pension Prophets will be on for the first fifteen minutes of the lunch break from 12:40 - 12:55

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Jennie Kreser, Consultant, Laytons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

Professional trustees want to take more risk – but not in a way you might expect. We reveal the results of our exclusive research and consider the challenges and constraints professional trustees face today.

Bob Campion, Head of Fiduciary Management, Charles Stanley

The requirements for a pension’s trustee are rapidly changing year on year. This panel will look at:

• Recruitment process for Trustees
• Increasing diversity
• Compliance of professional standard – accreditation
• Skills for lay trustees

Mandy Kaur-Sadler, Trustee Director, 20-20 Trustees
Ann Rigby, Trustee Executive, BESTrustees
Shola Salako, Accredited Professional Trustee, Dalriada

Chair: James Phillips, Deputy Editor, Professional Pensions

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area, grab a coffee and a bite to eat.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees
James Phillips, Deputy Editor, Professional Pensions

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

The Pension Schemes Act 2021 introduces new criminal offences and financial penalties. To what extent should trustees be concerned about these new offences, and should trustees expect these to drive a significant change in sponsors’ behaviour?

Alasdair Smith, Counsel - Pensions, Linklaters

The last 18 months has created a huge shift in the way Trustees have had to approach Trustee meetings. While many Trustees have experienced an improved frequency of meetings due to a lack of travel and time needed to commit, there are also some challenges. This panel will discuss the future of how Trustee meetings might look, how to ensure good governance and the new range of skills needed to progress successfully.

Vincent Franklin, Co-founder and Creative Director, Quietroom
Bob Hymas, Trustee Executive, BESTrustees
Kate Leigh, Trustee Director, 20-20 Trustees
Greig McGuinness, Professional Trustee, Dalriada

Chair: Holly Roach, Correspondent, Professional Pensions

Planning for the end game of your scheme can seem a daunting task – ever felt like you have lots of information on what you might do but lack a strategy to draw everything together? If insurance and buy-out is the chosen destination, setting and implementing your strategic plan and constructing a framework that works for both the scheme and insurers is essential. In this very practical session, hear the latest on the bulk annuity market, what is going on with pricing post-pandemic and how to get prepared so you can take full advantage of market conditions when the time is right. We’ll share real-life examples of how the right strategic planning can help your scheme to reach your goal of buy-out well ahead of target. Join this session for clear, actionable next steps to develop your strategy and turn it into reality.

Clive Wellsteed, Partner, LCP

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area and enjoy a tasty lunch.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Pension Prophets will be on for the first fifteen minutes of the lunch break from 12:40 - 12:55

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Jennie Kreser, Consultant, Laytons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

In the last year since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the UK, superfunds have been given the provisional regulatory greenlight by The Pensions Regulator, heralding the start of potential mass-consolidation across the DB landscape. Consolidation into larger entities aims to improve governance, reduce costs and improve the chances that pensions will be paid. This panel will discuss where the current regulation stands on DB Consolidators, assess the different models available, what the expected funding levels are and the governance requirements.

Des Healy, Defined Benefit Consolidation Lead, DWP
Tiffany Tsang, Head of DB, LGPS and Investment, PLSA
Charles Ward, Professional Trustee, Dalriada

Chair: Harus Rai, Head of Sole Trusteeship, Capital Cranfield

One thing COVID-19 has taught us is that we need digital channels for communication more than ever. Ryan will show what we can learn from the world outside of pensions to make the member experience useful, engaging and accessible. He'll also take a look at the risks in trying to make sure the pension/pizza arrives perfectly!

Ryan Sales, Creative Director, Landscape

For our Live audience, please use this time to browse our exhibition area, grab a coffee and a bite to eat.

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For our Digital audience, hear from our Pension Prophets panel as they provide commentary and analysis on the day’s sessions, while also tackling some of the most pressing topics of the moment. Hosted LIVE in our studio exclusively for our digital audience.

Robin Ellison, Consultant, Pinsent Masons
Naomi L'Estrange, Managing Director, 20-20 Trustees
James Phillips, Deputy Editor, Professional Pensions

Chair: Declan Curry, Broadcaster and Financial Journalist

On the one hand, the past two decades have been a rollercoaster ride for longevity. On the other, we often see very low assessments of future longevity risk. In this session we review (a) how risky longevity actually has been and (b) how risky future longevity may be.

Tim Gordon, Partner, Aon

2020 was obviously a year unlike any other, but did this map into hedging activity for pension schemes and, if so, how were hedging strategies adapted? Mark will consider the main risks for pension schemes as well as what hedging actually means in practice. With this in mind he will look back at 2020 and see if this unique year provided any insights on what is important in hedging strategies.

Jason Wood, Director, Derivatives, River & Mercantile
Sophia Man, Director, Derivatives, River & Mercantile